Medicare for All is shaping up to be one of the biggest political issues for Democrats this year. Major 2020 Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Cory Booker all support some form of government-run healthcare. In February, more than 100 Democratic House members co-sponsored a Medicare for All plan introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a notable exception. She did not endorse the House bill, and she’s been openly skeptical of the costs. In fact, a top Pelosi aide privately sought to undermine Medicare for All at a private health policy meeting in November, several sources told Politico.
No on Medicare for All
Pelosi’s longtime adviser on health care policy, Wendell Primus, attended the private meeting on Nov. 30 and cautioned the roughly two dozen people in attendance about the risks of Medicare for All, both financial and political, and encouraged them to speak out publicly against the proposed single-payer health care scheme, according to “multiple people familiar with the session.”
Primus was said to have explained that House Democratic leadership did not support the push from some in the party’s caucus toward socialized Medicare for All, in part because it risked drawing attention away from the leadership’s true focus on protecting and strengthening the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
That summation came from six unnamed individuals — four who were in the meeting and two who’d been briefed on it. The general consensus on the true thrust of Primus’ comments fell somewhere between a request for the health policy groups to provide more analysis and data on the plan, versus a more underhanded invitation for those groups to openly discredit and distance themselves from the costly Medicare for All proposal.
One attendee said, “It came across as, we need this so we can get on with our agenda. Can you help us point out the problems?”
Denial from Pelosi’s office
Pelosi’s office denied the report in a statement to Politico. “Wendell absolutely did not ask for any kind of one-sided analysis of Medicare for All, and anyone who says otherwise wasn’t actually listening. As Democrats, across the entire spectrum, we believe in legislating based on facts, data and honest analysis,” said Henry Connelly, spokesman for the speaker.
“No one has anything to fear from good faith research on Medicare for All,” Connelly added, in reference to the suggestion that Primus had encouraged the health policy groups to dig in to the details of the single-payer health care proposals and share what had been learned with the public.
But this isn’t the only report of such behind-the-scenes meetings. According to a February report from The Intercept, Primus met with major health insurers in early December and assured them “that party leadership had strong reservations about single-payer health care and was more focused on lowering drug prices.”
Focus on saving Obamacare
Pelosi and other top Democratic leaders would prefer to spend their efforts on saving Obamacare from the Trump administration’s efforts to repeal it, Politico reported. Options include smaller movements centered on lowering prescription drug prices or protecting individuals with pre-existing conditions from being denied insurance coverage.
Politically, it’s a safer route than embracing the controversial Medicare for All scheme, which would completely surpass Obamacare in terms of government control over the nation’s health care system, and which would admittedly force tens of millions of unwilling Americans off their preferred private health insurance plans.
While a significant percentage of Americans approved of Medicare for All’s promised benefits, once they were informed of the cons — cost, increased taxes, loss of private insurance, delays in getting care — most people disapproved of it, according to a Kaiser poll in January.
This allegation of shadowy sabotage of Medicare for All proposals by a top Pelosi aide will likely not sit well with the far-left progressives in the Democratic Party, and given the manner in which the more radical progressives have been so outspoken in recent months, it will be interesting to see if a challenge toward Pelosi’s leadership is mounted by those who feel they’ve been scorned by the head of the party.
1,588 Responses
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thanks again
I blog frequently and I really appreciate your content. This great article has truly peaked my interest. I’m going to bookmark your blog and keep checking for new information about once a week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.
You are so awesome! I don’t think I’ve read something like that before. So nice to discover somebody with a few original thoughts on this subject matter. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This web site is one thing that’s needed on the internet, someone with a bit of originality.
Thanks for the auspicious writeup. It in reality used to be a amusement account it. Glance advanced to more brought agreeable from you! By the way, how can we keep in touch?
I couldn’t resist commenting. Exceptionally well written!
Good day! I just wish to offer you a huge thumbs up for your great information you have got here on this post. I am coming back to your website for more soon.
I really like it when people get together and share ideas. Great site, stick with it!
You made some really good points there. I looked on the net to find out more about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this web site.
Interesting blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog shine. Please let me know where you got your theme. Thank you
Howdy! Quick question that’s totally off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My website looks weird when browsing from my apple iphone. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to correct this issue. If you have any suggestions, please share. Cheers!
Whats up this is kind of of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful post. Many thanks for supplying this info.
Amazing blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog jump out. Please let me know where you got your theme. Thanks a lot
Right here is the perfect blog for anyone who would like to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost tough to argue with you (not that I really will need to…HaHa). You certainly put a brand new spin on a topic which has been written about for a long time. Great stuff, just excellent.
Hmm it seems like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any tips for newbie blog writers? I’d really appreciate it.|
I really appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again
A lot of the things you articulate is astonishingly precise and that makes me wonder why I hadn’t looked at this with this light previously. This particular piece really did switch the light on for me as far as this particular topic goes. Nonetheless at this time there is 1 point I am not necessarily too comfortable with and whilst I make an effort to reconcile that with the main theme of the point, allow me see exactly what the rest of your subscribers have to point out.Very well done.
Thank you for another informative blog. Where else could I get that type of information written in such a perfect way? I’ve a project that I am just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such information.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have put in penning this site. I am hoping to view the same high-grade blog posts by you in the future as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my very own site now 😉
I am curious to find out what blog platform you’re utilizing? I’m experiencing some small security issues with my latest site and I’d like to find something more secure. Do you have any solutions?
Hello! I’ve been reading your blog for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Dallas Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the fantastic work!
Hmm it seems like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any helpful hints for beginner blog writers? I’d genuinely appreciate it.|
Nice post. I be taught something more challenging on totally different blogs everyday. It can all the time be stimulating to learn content from other writers and practice slightly one thing from their store. I’d choose to make use of some with the content on my weblog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a hyperlink on your net blog. Thanks for sharing.
Just desire to say your article is as astounding. The clarity for your put up is just great and i can think you’re a professional in this subject. Well along with your permission let me to clutch your feed to stay updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the gratifying work.|
Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any suggestions?
The very next time I read a blog, Hopefully it won’t fail me as much as this particular one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read through, nonetheless I genuinely thought you would have something helpful to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you can fix if you weren’t too busy searching for attention.
Ahaa, its pleasant dialogue concerning this piece of writing here at this blog, I have read all that, so at this time me also commenting here.|
Lovely site! I am loving it!! Will come back again. I am taking your feeds also.
I cling on to listening to the news broadcast talk about receiving boundless online grant applications so I have been looking around for the finest site to get one. Could you advise me please, where could i find some?
Great work! That is the kind of info that are supposed to be shared across the net. Shame on Google for now not positioning this put up higher! Come on over and visit my website . Thank you =)
I simply couldn’t go away your website prior to suggesting that I actually enjoyed the usual info an individual provide to your guests? Is going to be again incessantly in order to check out new posts
Aw, this was a very good post. Finding the time and actual effort to generate a very good article… but what can I say… I hesitate a whole lot and never manage to get anything done.
I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts in this kind of house . Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this site. Studying this info So i am satisfied to convey that I’ve a very good uncanny feeling I found out exactly what I needed. I most surely will make certain to don?t put out of your mind this web site and give it a look regularly.|
Hi there this is kinda of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Very efficiently written article. It will be valuable to everyone who utilizes it, as well as yours truly :). Keep doing what you are doing – i will definitely read more posts.
Your style is unique in comparison to other people I’ve read stuff from. I appreciate you for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this page.
Howdy! This article could not be written any better! Looking through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept preaching about this. I’ll forward this post to him. Fairly certain he’ll have a good read. I appreciate you for sharing!|
Thanks for all of your hard work on this blog. Kate takes pleasure in setting aside time for investigation and it is easy to understand why. We all learn all of the dynamic mode you create worthwhile strategies on your web site and even inspire response from some others about this area then my girl is in fact understanding so much. Have fun with the rest of the year. Your carrying out a wonderful job.
I’m not sure why but this blog is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.|