Sanders accuses Biden of parroting pharma and insurance industry script with attacks on Medicare for All
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday accused 2020 Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden of parroting insurance and pharmaceutical industry talking points after the former vice president raised alarm about the supposedly high price tag of Medicare for All and suggested the transition to a single-payer system would leave people with gaps in health coverage.
Campaigning in New Hampshire on Saturday, Biden said he wants to expand the Affordable Care Act and add a public option, claiming such incremental steps wouldn't "cost $3 trillion, and it can be done quickly."
"I don't know why we'd get rid of what in fact is working and move to something totally new," Biden said. "And so, there are differences."
Medicare for All advocates—including Sanders, the lead sponsor of the Medicare for All Act of 2019 in the Senate—argue that the ACA is not working, pointing to the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured or under-insured.
"I don't know why we'd get rid of what in fact is working and move to something totally new," Biden said. "And so, there are differences."
Medicare for All advocates—including Sanders, the lead sponsor of the Medicare for All Act of 2019 in the Senate—argue that the ACA is not working, pointing to the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured or under-insured.
In an interview with the New York Times on Sunday, Sanders called Biden's attack on Medicare for All "totally absurd."
"Obviously what Biden was doing is what the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industries, Republicans, do: ignoring the fact that people will save money on their healthcare because they will no longer have to pay premiums or out-of-pocket expenses," said the Vermont senator. "They will no longer have high deductibles and high co-payments."
"The charge that he's making," Sanders added, "is exactly what the Republicans are saying."
"Obviously what Biden was doing is what the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industries, Republicans, do: ignoring the fact that people will save money on their healthcare because they will no longer have to pay premiums or out-of-pocket expenses," said the Vermont senator. "They will no longer have high deductibles and high co-payments."
"The charge that he's making," Sanders added, "is exactly what the Republicans are saying."
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