Cost Of ‘Medicare For All’ Once Again Takes Center Stage At Latest Debate As Dems Cover Well-Trodden Ground

The New York Times: Victors In Iowa, Sanders And Buttigieg Are Targets In Democratic Debate
The two victors in the Iowa caucuses, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., came under sharp and sustained criticism in a Democratic presidential debate on Friday, as their rivals tried to stop their momentum by assailing Mr. Sanders for his left-wing ideas and past opposition to gun control while targeting Mr. Buttigieg over his thin résumé and ties to big donors. ... The gun issue was a major point of vulnerability for Mr. Sanders in his 2016 bid for the Democratic nomination, but until now had not been a significant part of the 2020 campaign. (Burns and Martin, 2/7)

Kaiser Health News: In Fierce Debate, Democratic Candidates Expand Health Agenda Arguments
Democratic presidential candidates faced off on the debate stage for the eighth time this campaign season. Meeting in Manchester, N.H., they returned to now familiar health care themes — “Medicare for All” versus a public option, the cost of prescription drugs and other key areas they say are ripe for change. Once again, candidates sparred over the cost of the single-payer health reform bill promoted by Vermont  Sen. Bernie Sanders. (Luthra and Knight, 2/9)

The New York Times: Sanders And Buttigieg Clash, Aiming For A Two-Person Race
In Dover, Mr. Buttigieg offered his own broadside, alleging that Mr. Sanders had not leveled with voters about the cost of his policy ambitions, especially single-payer health care. Rebuking Mr. Sanders again for what he has called an uncompromising view of leadership, Mr. Buttigieg suggested that voters “deserve somebody who can actually deliver math that adds up.” “What we could do without is a plan so expensive that Senator Sanders himself freely admits he has no idea how it’s supposed to be paid for,” Mr. Buttigieg said. (Burns and Corasaniti, 2/9)

The Washington Post: Biden, Warren Battle For Third Place In New Hampshire
Biden also on Sunday took a swipe at Sanders’s health-care plan, saying it was too expensive and would take too long to enact. The Vermont senator’s biggest problem, Biden argued, was that he wasn’t being fully truthful with the American people. “Look, the one thing I think the public is looking for as much as anything is authenticity,” Biden said. “Just tell me the truth. And if you don’t know, don’t ask me to buy a pig in a poke.” (Wootson, Viser and Sonmez, 2/9)

The Hill: Biden Slams Sanders Over Cost Of 'Medicare For All'
Sanders countered that total costs would go down for middle class people because they would no longer have to pay premiums and deductibles, which would more than offset the higher taxes to pay for the plan. Sanders said his plan would “save the average American substantial sums of money,” so that it would be “much less expensive than [Biden's] plan” for the average person. (Sullivan, 2/7)

The Hill: Sanders: We Released 'Substantive' Part Of All Medical Records
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a leading Democratic presidential candidate who suffered a heart attack last year, said Sunday his campaign has released the "substantive" part of his medical records. "We have released as much documentation as any other candidate," Sanders said on NBC's "Meet the Press," when questioned on the release of his records. "No other candidates had a heart attack," NBC's Chuck Todd followed up, noting Sanders pledged in September to release his records before a vote was cast. He made the pledge about a month before his heart attack. "No other candidate is doing four of five events a day, running all over this country," Sanders responded. "You can start releasing medical records and it never ends," Sanders added. "We have released the substantive part of all our medical records, we have doctors who are, cardiologists who are, confirming I am in good health. I am in good health." (Klar, 2/9)

The Associated Press Fact Check: Dems Skew Health Care, Iraq Facts In Debate
Democratic presidential contenders stretched beyond the facts on policy and sometimes on their own records Friday in their New Hampshire debate.Amy Klobuchar called out Pete Buttigieg for an evolution on health care that he didn’t acknowledge. KLOBUCHAR, on Buttigieg’s evolution on health care: “And Pete, while you have a different plan now, you sent out a tweet just a few years ago that said henceforth, forthwith, indubitably, affirmatively, you are for ‘Medicare for All’ for the ages." BUTTIGIEG: “Just to be clear, the truth is that I have been consistent throughout in my position on delivering health care for every American.” (Woodward, Alonso-Zaldivar and Boak, 2/8)

Politico: Buttigieg Takes A Beating, Biden Concedes N.H., And Klobuchar Goes Big: Key Debate Moments
One of Buttigieg’s biggest weaknesses is among black voters, specifically when it comes to his record as mayor of South Bend, Ind. And it’s a record that he didn’t want to talk about when it came to an increase of marijuana arrests among African-Americans when he led the city. “The reality is, on my watch, drug arrests in South Bend were lower than the national average, and specifically lower than in Indiana,” Buttigieg said, avoiding the question about the increase of arrests over marijuana during his term. He then spoke about opiate arrests and the crack epidemic of the 1990s. ABC debate moderator Linsey Davis then steered the issue back to the question, noting that arrests of black people for marijuana possession went up. Buttigieg said the arrests only increased in drug cases connected to serious crimes like “gun violence and gang violence, which was slaughtering so many in our community — burying teenagers, disproportionately black teenagers.” Davis then asked Warren if Buttigieg answered the question. “No,” Warren said. (Caputo and McCaskill, 2/7)

The Hill: Warren, Biden Call For Law To Protect Abortion Rights
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for a law to protect abortion rights when asked at the Democratic primary debate on Friday if they believed there should be a litmus test on the issue for Supreme Court nominees. "I've lived in an America in which abortion was illegal, and rich women still got abortions," Warren said. "That's what we have to remember about this. States are heading toward trying to ban abortion outright, and the Supreme Court seems headed in that direction, as well." (Manchester, 2/7)

Stat: A Closer Look At Bernie Sanders’ Plans To Upend Pharma, Lower Drug Prices
Sen. Bernie Sanders is making high drug prices a signature issue on the campaign trail. The Vermont senator, who identifies as an independent, “Democratic socialist”-style progressive, reshaped Democratic politics with his insurgent bid for the party’s nomination in 2016, and now appears to be a frontrunner for the party’s nomination in 2020. Since before his presidential bid, Sanders has also become even more involved on the issue of prescription drug pricing in his role as a senator. In a meeting during the fall of 2018, Sanders told an aide he hoped to introduce legislation that would reduce U.S. prescription drug prices by half. In late 2018, and again in 2019, he introduced a bill to cap U.S. drug payments at the mean level paid by five peer nations: Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and France. The measure is even more aggressive than a similar Trump administration proposal, which would enact a pilot program capping payments for physician-administered drugs under Medicare’s Part B at 126% the price of a similar but wider “basket” of developed nations. (Facher, 2/7)

In other election news —

The Associated Press: Nevada Union Warns Members Of Sanders, Warren Health Plans
Nevada's most influential union is sending a subtle message to its members discouraging support for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over their health care stances even though the union has not yet decided if it will endorse a candidate in the Democratic presidential race. The casino workers’ Culinary Union, a 60,000-member group made up of housekeepers, porters, bartenders and more who work in Las Vegas' famed casinos, began distributing leaflets in employee dining rooms this week that push back against “Medicare For All,” the plan from Sanders and Warren to move to a government-run health insurance system. (Price, 2/7)

Politico: Why Employers Are Flirting With The Public Option
Big businesses are beginning to warm up to what was once unthinkable: a public option for health care. Democrats have bitterly split over whether to build on Obamacare by adding a government-run insurance choice to compete with commercial insurers, or whether to scrap the current system and move to "Medicare for All." The public option was dropped from the original Obamacare bill a decade ago. (Luthi, 2/8)

Roll Call: Health Politics: 2020 Hopefuls Differ On More Than Insurance Coverage
While the “Medicare for All” debate over whether to shift the nation toward government-run health care has been the mainstay of the presidential debate so far — and an issue Trump is expected to stoke throughout his own campaign — other issues, especially drug prices, are also dominant themes on the campaign trail this year. On some health care issues, such as drug pricing, the Democratic candidates’ proposals are so similar that it’s difficult to distinguish real differences among them, so that’s not an issue they stress as they compete for voters in party primaries, Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said. (McIntire, 2/10)

USA Today: Medicare For All? Obamacare? No Buzzwords And US Agrees On Health Care
Health care is one of the most divisive issues of the 2020 presidential campaign, with candidates disparaging insurers and polarizing labels creating deep divisions even among Democrats. But remove the buzzwords from the policies, and voters who will decide the election aren't so far apart in their own positions, new research shows. Regardless of party affiliation, nearly everyone wants to see the nation's health care system improved, and a majority want big changes. That includes people for whom the system is working well, and those who may be political opposites. (O'Donnell, 2/7)

Dallas Morning News: Will Voters Revolt Over Health Care Prices? Texans Have Plenty Of Reason To Push For Change
In a recent scorecard, Texas ranked low on affordability, in part because it’s “among the most expensive states, with private payer prices well above the national median,” Altarum reported. Almost half of Texans had problems with out-of-pocket expenses and one-third had trouble paying medical bills, the report said. In a 2019 state scorecard by Commonwealth, Texas ranked dead last on access and affordability. More adults in the state went without care because of the cost and a greater share didn’t have a usual provider, the group said. The cost of health insurance also consumed a greater portion of Texans’ income. “Texas has a very bad spending and pricing problem, and they don’t seem to be doing anything about it,” Quincy said. In December, the Texas House named a select committee to study health care costs. It aims to examine the primary drivers of rising expenses and identify ways to improve the system and reduce costs. (Schnurman, 2/9)