Health Care Had Never Been A Top Priority For Warren, But Somehow It’s Become A Defining Issue Of Her Campaign
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), known for having a plan for everything, started the race by signing onto Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) "Medicare for All" proposal. That decision has left her entangled with an issue that seems to be sinking her polling numbers and leaving both progressives and moderates unsatisfied, even though it wasn't her policy to start with.
The Washington Post:
How A Fight Over Health Care Entangled Elizabeth Warren — And Reshaped The Democratic Presidential Race
In mid-November, a few dozen of the country’s most influential advocates of Medicare-for-all were reviewing details of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan to finance the proposed government-run program when they learned that she had unexpectedly changed her position. Warren (D-Mass.), who had excited liberals when she initially embraced a Medicare-for-all idea first proposed by rival presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), was suggesting a more centrist idea: to delay enactment of the single-payer system and, in the interim, give consumers the choice to opt in. (Linskey, Stein and Balz, 11/30)
Axios:
Democrats Medicare For All Proposals Face Moderate Opposition
What's happening: Poll after poll shows voters like the idea of Medicare for All. But the second you tell them about costs and tradeoffs, they turn on it. Why it matters: A harsh spotlight on Warren's specifics collided with Mike Bloomberg's massive spending on a moderate message, as well as rising angst among donors and investors about risks of Warren-Sanders socialism. (Talev and Nather, 11/29)
In other news from the campaign trail —
The Hill:
Disability Advocates Raise Concerns About Democratic Candidates' Mental Health Plans
Mental health proposals from Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) have sparked backlash from some advocates with disabilities, who argue that the plans would increase involuntary institutionalization. Plans by all three presidential candidates embrace a repeal of Medicaid’s Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion, which bars the federal program from paying for inpatient psychiatric treatment in facilities with more than 16 beds, according to Sara Luterman, a Washington, D.C.-area journalist focusing on disability issues. (Budryck, 11/27)
