Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a new version of his Medicare-for-All bill, which he and everyone else knows is going nowhere. This year’s version has even fewer co-sponsors than the one he introduced in 2017.
What is frustrating is 2019 is the lead up to the presidential primaries and the far-left of the Democratic Party is pushing candidates to jump on the bandwagon with bills like this threatening them with withholding support if they don’t. So a number of the senators running have become co-sponsors of a bill they know is dead on arrival including Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker. Since co-sponsoring they all seem to be backing off in more nuanced statements. There is an alternative that Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar and others like Pete Buttigieg are closer to supporting called Medicare for America. It shares the long-term goal of universal healthcare but starts with a public option for all those currently uninsured to enter Medicare and doesn’t force those happy with their current plan into it. The goal is to make the public option attractive enough over time for people to voluntarily move toward it.
Pandering to Sanders is wrong and misreads the general electorate.
Continue reading the full op-ed at The Washington Blade.
Peter Rosenstein is a community and Democratic activist based in Washington, DC, where he appears in the media as a commentator on issues including LGBT rights, politics and education. His columns may be found here.
NCRM from time to time publishes op-eds reflecting the wide diversity of our community’s views and beliefs. They do not necessarily reflect NCRM’s positions..
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