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Warren's 'Medicare for All' Plan Reignites Health Care Clash

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - Elizabeth Warren's proposal to gradually move the country
   to a government-funded health care system has further inflamed the
   debate over "Medicare for All,"likely ensuring the issue will play a
   significant role in this week's Democratic presidential debate.

   The Massachusetts senator announced Friday that her administration
   would immediately build on existing laws, including the Affordable Care
   Act, to expand access to health care while taking up to three years to
   fully implement Medicare for All. That attempt to thread the political
   needle has roiled her more moderate rivals, who say she's waffling,
   while worrying some on the left, who see Warren's commitment to a
   single-payer system wavering.

   The divide could complicate plans by Democrats to turn health care into
   a winning issue in 2020. The party successfully took back control of
   the House last year by championing programs that ensure that people
   with preexisting medical conditions keep their insurance coverage while
   arguing that Republicans want to weaken such provisions. But the
   Medicare for All debate is more delicate as advocates including Warren
   grapple with concerns that a new government-run system won't provide
   the same quality of coverage as private insurance - and would be
   prohibitively expensive.

   "The Medicare for All proposal has turned out to be a real deal-breaker
   in who gets the Democratic nomination,"said Robert Blendon, a Harvard
   University School of Public Health professor whose teaching
   responsibilities include courses on political strategy in health policy
   and public opinion polling. "This is not just another issue.''

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