It’s funny how sliding in the polls can make you rethink your convictions.
One of the top Democratic candidates and top proponents of Medicare for All, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, is now waffling on her position as she faces increased scrutiny over how to pay for it and whether stumping for government-run health care actually hurts her chances at winning the White House.
After pushing for Medicare for All, Warren is now saying there will be a transition period that makes joining Medicare for All optional during her theoretical first term in office. Warren is now stressing “choice” and saying on the campaign trail there will be a three-year implementation period where you can remain with your existing health care provider (“if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” … now where have we heard that before?) or opt into Medicare for All, which is quite the flip-flop.
“We’re going to push through health care that’s available to everyone,” Warren said Saturday at a town hall event on the campaign trail in Clinton, Iowa. “You don’t have to, but it’s your choice if you want to come in and get full health care coverage.”
Warren of course insists that Medicare for All is still the long-term plan, but she’s facing increasing pressure from falling poll numbers and rivals like front-runner Joe Biden and the rising Pete Buttigieg, who both favor building upon “Obamacare” while also offering a public health care option.
Medicare for All is popular among a wide swath of progressive voters, but as a whole the country opposes, including most moderate Democrats.
Citing a recent Fox News poll we covered this morning, only about 41% of voters favor universal health care while 53% are opposed to it, likely making it a losing issue in a challenge to incumbent President Donald Trump.
Warren is a big backer of unions, but union members, along with millions of other Americans who are insured through work plans, will be hesitant to give those good health plans up. Warren swears that once people try it, they’ll love it.
“And then when people have a chance to try it, when you’ve had the choice — nobody has to — but when you’ve had the choice and tried full health care coverage, then we’ll vote,” Warren said. “And I believe America is going to say, ‘We like Medicare for All.’”
Warren is presumably waffling on her health care plan as she slides in the polls. According to Real Clear Politics, Warren now only has about 16% support after rising as high as 23.4% in October when she was charging hard and in a virtual dead heat with Biden.
Biden is now at 27% support, Sanders at 18.6% and Warren now third at 15.9%.
In November, Warren released her Medicare for All proposal with a $20.5 trillion cost over 10 years, which is about $10 trillion less than what most experts estimate it will cost. She plans on paying for it with her new wealth tax, which she doubled from 3% to 6% on people with assets above $1 billion after those reports surfaced.
