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Medicare for All is perhaps the rallying cry of the progressives.But it is Medicare for More that will eventually become The Reality.
Several Candidates for the 2020 Democratic Presidential Election are probably considering a universal health care plan, which is already creating friction within the party's empowered left wing, which has prevented any attempt to mitigate the progressive dream of a single payer [19659] 005] The story continues below
One of the winning ideas is to allow certain demographic groups to take out Medicare earlier than age 65, while increasing allying with it. leveraging Obamacare coverage gains.
"It's easy to say" Medicare for all "and make a good speech, but do nothing," said Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a potential candidate for 2020 whose bill would allow police and firefighters to retire. to Medicare before age 65. "I want to see the action".
This is a way Brown and many party members have begun to interest in recent months – a balance between the desire to tip the Trump era to the left with Memories of the political meltdown that Democrats have endured for a decade after their latest overhaul of the country's health system.
The Democrats have therefore developed at least eight plans to expand health coverage beyond Obamacare's gains. They range from modest health insurance reforms to more ambitious restructurings that would expand government-managed care to millions of new patients – a range of options that do not meet the promise of health care. campaign for comprehensive health insurance for all.
This spectrum includes Senator Debbie Stabenow. The (D-Mich.) Bill authorizing patients to join Medicare from age 55 and the Tim Kaine (D-Va.) Project and Michael Bennet (D-Co.) To create a public option to Medicare type with private insurers on larger reorganizations, like Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) And Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) Extend Medicare eligibility to almost all Americans. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) would let everyone buy Medicaid. The proposed options were qualified by supporters of more practical solutions than the system fully managed by the government and popularized by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) And Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
obscured by the decision of the new Democratic majority in power to spend its first months in office, it focused on Obamacare's reinforcement efforts – a position endorsed by the closely aligned Protect external group. Our Care. Members recognize, however, that it is only a matter of time before we focus on the 2020 goal and that we question the speed and distance to travel to and from Beyond the Affordable Care Act.
"If we could go directly to Medicare for all, I would like us to do that," said Merkley. "But it's important to chart a course on how to achieve that vision. If you tell people that the only choice they have to make is Medicare, this could make many people want to worry: "Wait a minute, I love my care of health and you tell me that I have to leave them. "
The more gradual approach is nonetheless frustrating for some progressive, encouraged by the November elections and the commitment of House leaders to hold the first-ever hearings on Medicare for all.
They believe that their party should show local enthusiasm for single-payer health care, injecting the once marginal concept into the mainstream of the Democratic Party and not fleeing it.
"This is not out of reach. That's not impossible, "said Jayapal." It's enough of a political will here in Congress. "
But Democratic leaders prefer a long and moderate debate over a multitude of health issues. Democrats in the House are concerned about moving away from the Obamacare-centric message that has helped members in general in 2018 and are concerned about making life more difficult for members facing tough fights for re-election in 2020. [19659004] A health care messaging guide was developed for Congressional Democrats, by Protect Our Care, urging the party to remain focused on its priorities: to reprimand Republicans to avoid the "sabotage" of Obamacare, reduce health care costs and strengthening consumer protection within the framework of the law in force
In the meantime, the pressure groups of the health sector companies prepared themselves to counteract any developments in favor of Medicare. Republicans are eager to advance the conversation beyond Obamacare and their efforts to eliminate pre-existing protections, thinking that a battle against a new health system would allow the GOP to regain its political base in the disadvantaged districts.
"The speaker understands," said a Democrat Democrat of the House. "She's not going to force people to walk on the board for the sake of it because we have to satisfy some of our far left vocal friends."
Add to that boxing concerns in any future 2020 candidate, and House Democratic Leaders have already privately ruled out allowing a vote in the House on any plan to extend coverage of this Congress, declared a Democratic advisor to POLITICO.
Potential candidates for 2020, such as Detective Cory Booker (DN.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) And Kirsten Gillibrand (DN.Y.) also act with caution, adopting the insurance – Disease for All, adopted by Sanders, who made this issue a defining feature of his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election, also signed less ambitious expansion plans. Others, like former Vice President Joe Biden, have not yet taken into account what they would argue.
But they will be tested by the party's liberal wing in the coming months with Jayapal's Medicare for All bill, which closely aligns House progressives with Sanders' proposal and gives new impetus to single payer inside and outside. Capitol.
In February, the National Nurses Union plans a national campaign to strengthen support for universal health care. And in the House, Jayapal's bill will eventually be heard by committees led by supporters of single payer Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) And John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), Respectively.
Yarmuth, Chairman of the House Budget Committee. , also asked the Congressional Budget Office to assess the tax impact of a single payer national model – another first for the Medicare-for-All movement.
The Ways and Means Committee plans to hold a hearing this spring to consider the various health insurance expansion bills proposed by Democrats, said Rep. Brian Higgins (DN.Y.), Committee member who has his own proposal to participate in Medicare. Jayapal, meanwhile, is asking for a hearing on Medicare for all before the Energy and Trade Committee – although President Frank Pallone (DN.J.) has not still made a decision.
Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Health on Trade and Commerce on Health, appeared to promise on Wednesday to hold her own hearing on various bills related to health. ;Health Insurance. But later, she responded by telling POLITICO that this would only happen if the subcommittee completed its long program and had free time.
Progressives recognize that a health insurance vote for all this year is a long shot – it would probably need the support of these two major committees and their Leaders – but expressed the hope that an expansion bill could be envisioned as a way to set the bar for 2020.
"We want a minimum vote soon because that we want it to be part of the presidential conversation, so certainly before the Iowa caucuses, "said Ro Khanna's representative (D-Calif.).
Many Medicare for All supporters in the House, including Khanna, have signed alternative bills that would gradually expand Medicare for some segments of the population, or simply create a public option to compete with private candidates insurance plans.
Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) And Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) Advocate a plan similar to Merkley's in the Senate, which would give all Americans the opportunity to buy a Medicare plan – but not to force him to make. And at the end of last year, Higgins asked President Nancy Pelosi to commit "in good faith" to pass her bill, which would allow patients to buy Medicare from age 50 – a plan he called a gateway to a future Any system.
"You have a majority, it does not make sense to have political appeal if you do not use it," he said.
But the rest of the Democratic Conference will have something convincing.
In the absence of a bill on widening coverage while Republicans control the Senate, they feel there is little point in pushing things straight. On the contrary, party leaders urge progressives to wait for their time and use the next two years to come up with a plan that the whole party can adopt by 2020.
"We have to work hard not to go back to January 2021, but instead of relying on countless hearings, experts and many debates, Merkley said, we have the most complex, the most complex and the most stressful health care delivery system in the world. We must do better. "
Heather Caygle contributed to the writing of this report.
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