A Lot More Democrats Now Back Bernie Sanders ’ ‘Medicare for All’ Plan

Two years ago, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a “Medicare for All” bill that would move the U.S. toward a single-payer healthcare system. He didn’t get a single co-sponsor. On Wednesday, the Vermont independent will introduce his latest version of the bill. Ten of his colleagues—about one-fourth of Democratic senators—have already signed on. That includes four senators widely expected to run for president in 2020: Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand. “The American people understand that now is the time for us to do what every other major country on earth does and guarantee healthcare to all people,” Sanders told TIME in a hallway of the Capitol Building on Tuesday. But Sanders’ has been preaching the single-payer gospel for years. The question is why the choir behind him has grown. One major reason is that President Obama is no longer in office. As the putative head of the party and the namesake of Obamacare, his Administration kept the focus on implementing and defending the Affordable Care Act. The 2016 election also led to a paradigm shift for many Democrats, who felt that Hillary Clinton’s campaign offered too many smaller initiatives, especially when contrasted with Donald Trump’s all-caps promises to build a wall. “Do we need to be a little bit edgier and bolder in our policy prescriptions in terms of how we talk about and address those issues? I think people do take that ...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized 2016 Election Affordable Care Act Bernie Sanders Congress Cory Booker Donald Trump Health Care Healthcare hillary clinton kirsten gillibrand Source Type: news