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Democratic Hopefuls Trade Health Care Blows in Nevada Debate

Government-run insurance vs. ACA expansion at center of dispute


spinner image Candidates for the democratic party nomination for president on the debate stage
Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The two Democratic hopefuls who want to replace the private insurance system in America with a government program went on the offensive at the Democratic debate in Nevada, while the other four candidates on the stage defended their plans to expand the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Wednesday night's sparring took place in Las Vegas, where Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has come under fire from the union that represents thousands of hospitality workers who worry that his proposal would force them to give up their negotiated health plans. “I will never sign a bill that will reduce the health care benefits they have,” Sanders said. “We will only expand it for them and for every union in America to the working class of this country.” Sanders said his plan would raise taxes, but Americans would pay less for health care because he would eliminate premiums, deductibles and copays as well as expand benefits.

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Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who made his debut appearance on a 2020 debate stage, responded to Sanders’ plan by saying that if he wants to win the election, “you don't start out by saying, ‘I've got 160 million people, I'm going to take away the insurance plan they love.’ “ Bloomberg said he favors restoring any ACA rollbacks, adding a government-backed public option to the current health care choices and capping some charges. “We shouldn't just walk away and start something that is totally new and untried,” Bloomberg added.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren took aim at several of her competitors. She said former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg “really has a slogan that was thought up by a consultant to paper over a thin version of a plan that would leave millions of people unable to afford their health care. It's not a plan; it's a PowerPoint."

Like Sanders, Warren supports a government-run (single-payer) health care system, but she has suggested a willingness to accept something less than a full break with the current system: “My approach to this is we help as many people as quickly as possible. If we don't get all the first time, take the win, come back into the fight to ask for more."

Buttigieg, who favors expanding the ACA with a Medicare buy-in for those who want it, dismissed Warren's PowerPoint comment and said his plan “solves the problems and makes sure there is no such thing as an uninsured American and does it without kicking anybody off the plan."

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Warren also criticized Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, calling her plan a “Post-it note, insert plan here,” and said it was two paragraphs on Klobuchar's website. Klobuchar also favors a public option addition to the ACA. She said her plan would “reduce premiums for 12 million people immediately and it would expand coverage for about the same number.” Klobuchar's website actually includes an extensive explanation of her health care proposal.

Warren didn't single out former Vice President Joe Biden for criticism. Biden said that he was the only one on the debate stage who accomplished something in health care because former President Barack Obama asked him to round up votes for the ACA. Biden favors a public option that he said would be paid for by “making sure that Mike [Bloomberg] and other people pay the same tax rate their secretary pays."

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