No need to reinvent health care – improve Obamacare



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Democrats should focus on improvements to Obamacare instead of trying to reinvent the wheel with "Medicare for All," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday.

"God bless," the presidential Democrats in the 2020 presidential nominations for Medicare for All, Pelosi said in an interview with the host of "Mad Money," Jim Cramer. "But know what that implies."

Pelosi's reflections on how to improve national health care laws seem to align with those of former Vice President Joe Biden, who in his candidacy for the 2020 presidency , calls for strengthening the provisions of Obamacare, formerly known as the Affordable Care Act.

"I think the path to" health care for all "is a path that follows that of the Affordable Care Act," Pelosi told Cramer. "Let's use our energy to provide health care to all Americans, and that affects more than 150 million families who benefit through the private sector."

Several 2020 candidates argue for a version of Medicare for All. The most radical proposal is no doubt that of Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Who calls for the elimination of private health insurance and its replacement by a universal health insurance plan. Proponents say this would help reduce the administrative inefficiencies and costs of the US health care system. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Seconded Sanders' proposal.

However, policy analysts believe that the implementation of such a law would be difficult, even if a candidate such as Sanders won the presidency. Democrats should stay in the House and win the Senate in the 2020 elections to regain control of Congress. Then, they would probably need 60 votes in the Senate and two-thirds of the House to overcome any filibusters. Republicans hold a majority of 53 to 47 in the Senate.

Pelosi's comments also come in as legislators and the Trump administration both try to pass legislation this year that would give more transparency to health care costs and, ultimately, reduce costs for health care providers. consumers.

Pelosi and the Democratic House leaders are expected to unveil this week a long-awaited plan to reduce the price of drugs in the United States.

The plan, which is still evolving, would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for the 250 most expensive drugs and apply those cuts to private health plans across the United States, according to a paper appeared at Capitol Hill on September 7th. ten.

The Department of Health and Social Services is prohibited from negotiating drug prices on behalf of Medicare, the federal government's health insurance plan. Private insurers use drug benefit managers to negotiate drug rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers in exchange for better coverage.

Pelosi has been working for months on a plan that would give this power to HHS. Democratic House leaders have been "listening" around the party earlier this year to discuss the details of Pelosi's plan but have not yet distributed it to caucus, said a Democratic aide. in an interview.

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