Former presidential contender Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that she does not think Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) Medicare for All plan would ever get enacted. She also said that she supports a public option instead.
“You just don’t think that that plan would ever get enacted?” interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Clinton at The New York Times Dealbook Conference.
“No, I don’t. I don’t, but the goal is the right goal,” Clinton responded.
“I believe the smarter approach is to build on what we have, a public option is something I’ve been in favor of for a very long time,” Clinton said. “I don’t believe we should be in the midst of a big disruption while we are trying to get to 100 percent coverage and deal with costs.”
These comments will surely add fuel to the fire in the raging health care debate among the Democratic presidential candidates. Clinton was the party’s 2016 nominee and she lines up more with former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. They are pushing an optional government insurance plan, rather than Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who are pushing government insurance for all.
Clinton tried to shift the debate back to highlighting the contrast between Democrats and a Republican Party that is still trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The GOP is now backing a lawsuit currently in the courts to overturn the entire law.
“Yeah, we’re having a debate on our side of the political ledger, but it’s a debate about the right issue, how do we get to health care coverage for everybody that we can afford?” Clinton said, noting the GOP is “in court right now to strike the entire law down.”
What do you think about Clinton’s perspective on Warren’s proposal? Do you agree or disagree?
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