Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Sanders' 'Medicare For All' Becomes Albatross Ahead Of Nevada Caucuses In Face Of Union Opposition For Policy
The New York Times: The Next Hurdle For Bernie Sanders: Nevada’s Top Union Dislikes ‘Medicare For All’
Senator Bernie Sanders is a longtime supporter of “Medicare for all.” “I wrote the damn bill,” he said on a debate stage last summer, and his support for universal health care has helped propel him to the front of the 2020 Democratic field. But in Nevada, where the race heads next, his signature policy is a liability with the largest labor union in the state. And the union has enthusiastic allies in Mr. Sanders’s opponents. On Friday morning, moments after Senator Amy Klobuchar finished a tour of the health care facility run by the culinary workers’ union, she began to lace into Mr. Sanders and his focus on the proposal, which would effectively eliminate union members’ current health care system. (Medina and Martin, 2/16)
The Associated Press: Biden In Vegas Takes On Sanders' Gun Votes In Fiery Speech
Joe Biden, standing on a Las Vegas stage roughly 1,000 feet from the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, took on White House rival Bernie Sanders for his past vote to exempt gun manufacturers from liability for shootings. The former vice president devoted the majority of his Saturday night speech at a Democratic gala on the Las Vegas Strip to deliver a fiery charge against the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers, vowing to hold gun makers accountable if elected president. (Price and Peoples, 2/15)
The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Storm Nevada Ahead Of High-Stakes Caucuses
Mr. Buttigieg, a 38-year-old military veteran, has sought to present himself as a candidate who could bring together the disparate factions within the party and present a striking alternative to President Trump. He has tussled with Mr. Sanders on a central issue of the campaign: Medicare for All, in which the party’s left wants to move everyone from private insurance to government-provided health coverage, while centrists call for a more gradual shift. “A campaign message that says that you’ve either got to be for the revolution or you must be for the status quo, most of us don’t know where we fit in that picture,” Mr. Buttigieg said in Reno on Monday. “I’m here to draw a bigger picture, one where all of us can belong.” (Thomas, 2/17)
The New York Times: Biden Calls On Sanders To Show Accountability For ‘Outrageous’ Online Threats By Followers
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took aim at Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Saturday, calling on him to condemn the “vicious, malicious, misogynistic” rhetoric of some Sanders supporters and to do more to stamp it out. The remarks came at a key time for both campaigns, as Mr. Biden tries to regain his footing after weak showings in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary — in which Mr. Sanders surged toward the front of the Democratic pack — and a week before next Saturday’s Nevada caucuses. (Kaplan, Ruiz and Gabriel, 2/15)
In other election news —
The New York Times: Democrats Plan To Highlight Health Care And Jobs Over Investigating Trump
House Democrats, recovering from their failed push to remove President Trump from office, are making a sharp pivot to talking about health care and economic issues, turning away from their investigations of the president as they focus on preserving their majority. Top Democrats say that oversight of the president will continue, and they plan in particular to press Attorney General William P. Barr over what they say are Mr. Trump’s efforts to compromise the independence of the Justice Department. But for now, at least, they have shelved the idea of subpoenaing Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, who was a central figure in the president’s impeachment trial. (Stolberg, 2/16)
