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 love it when folks get together and share opinions. Great blog, stick with it!|
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you writing this write-up and the rest of the website is extremely good.|
Howdy very cool web site!! Man .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds additionally…I am glad to find a lot of useful information right here within the post, we want develop more strategies in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
Wow, superb blog format! How lengthy have you been blogging for? you made running a blog glance easy. The whole look of your web site is excellent, as smartly as the content!
I am extremely inspired together with your writing abilities and also with the structure to your weblog. Is this a paid topic or did you customize it yourself? Either way stay up the excellent quality writing, it is uncommon to see a great blog like this one today..|
My brother recommended I might like this web site. He was totally right. This post actually made my day. You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
It is appropriate time to make a few plans for the longer term and it is time to be happy. I’ve learn this put up and if I may I desire to suggest you few fascinating things or suggestions. Perhaps you could write subsequent articles regarding this article. I want to read more issues about it!|
Right away I am ready to do my breakfast, when having my breakfast coming yet again to read more news.|
Hi there! Quick question that’s completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My website looks weird when browsing from my iphone 4. I’m trying to find a template or plugin that might be able to resolve this problem. If you have any suggestions, please share. Thank you!
hello there and thank you on your information – I have definitely picked up something new from proper here. I did alternatively experience a few technical issues the use of this web site, as I skilled to reload the website many occasions prior to I may get it to load properly. I had been thinking about in case your web hosting is OK? Now not that I’m complaining, but slow loading circumstances instances will sometimes impact your placement in google and could injury your high quality ranking if ads and ***********|advertising|advertising|advertising and *********** with Adwords. Well I’m adding this RSS to my e-mail and could glance out for much more of your respective intriguing content. Ensure that you update this again very soon..
Hey very interesting blog!|
Its such as you read my thoughts! You seem to understand so much approximately this, such as you wrote the e book in it or something. I feel that you simply could do with a few percent to power the message house a bit, however instead of that, that is wonderful blog. A fantastic read. I will definitely be back.
Good web blog you’ve got in this article.. It’s hard to find high-top quality authoring like yours these days and nights. I seriously appreciate persons like you! Take health care!
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it is really informative. I?m going to watch out for brussels. I?ll be grateful if you continue this in future. Lots of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one today.|
when summer comes, our summer activity ranges from kayaking to mountain climbing and also hiking too**
I like it whenever people get together and share views. Great site, stay with it!
Thanks for another informative website. Where else could I get that type of information written in such an ideal way? I have a project that I am just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such information.
Do you have a spam problem on this website; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; many of us have developed some nice procedures and we are looking to exchange strategies with others, why not shoot me an email if interested.
It’s really a nice and useful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Great 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 stand out. Please let me know where you got your design. Thanks
Hello! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to give it a look. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Exceptional blog and great style and design.
Unquestionably believe that which you said. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the web the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people think about worries that they plainly do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
Wonderful work! This is the type of info that should be shared around the web. Shame on Google for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my website . Thanks =)
Its such as you learn my thoughts! You appear to grasp so much approximately this, such as you wrote the book in it or something. I feel that you simply could do with some to power the message home a bit, but instead of that, that is magnificent blog. A fantastic read. I will definitely be back.
Hey, I ran across this post and found it very useful. I too have already started on a blog of my own and needed a small help. This post answered my questions. Cheers and thanks!
This web page is mostly a walk-by for the entire data you wished about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and also you’ll positively uncover it.
Hello. splendid job. I did not imagine this. This is a splendid story. Thanks!
I think other web-site proprietors should take this website as an model, very clean and fantastic user genial style and design, as well as the content. You’re an expert in this topic!
I cling on to listening to the rumor speak about receiving free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the most excellent site to get one. Could you advise me please, where could i acquire some?