Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has made Medicare for All an important part of her presidential campaign, but privately she might be somewhat less certain.
Although the Democratic presidential candidate has been an enthusiastic proponent of Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ universal health care program, in a leaked video Warren allows for some wiggle room when talking to labor bosses from the International Longshore And Warehouse Union in an Aug. 23, 2019 video.
In the video, Warren continued to embrace Sanders’ socialized medicine plan but redefined how that plan can be implemented. She emphasized that it’s all about achieving a goal “and that goal has got to be that we’ve got to be in a place where we get coverage for everybody at the lowest possible cost,” Warren explained, as she notes “and that’s Medicare for All.” (RELATED: Warren Struggles To Answer When Pressed By Colbert Whether Medicare For All Will Raise Taxes On Middle Class)
Warren seemed to suggest that she believes people who already have health care coverage should not be forced on a government-mandated plan when she said, “I want to make sure that the folks who are at the table are folks who don’t have health care coverage – I want to make sure they’re there – but also folks who do have health care coverage.” she also said it is very important “to make sure the unions are there.”
US Senator Elizabeth Warren (C), Democrat from Massachusetts, speaks with US Senator Bernie Sanders (2nd R), Independent from Vermont, as they discusses Medicare for All legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Sept. 13, 2017. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
The senator noted that unions are not necessarily in favor of the Sanders plan — “they’re in different places on health care.” (RELATED: Elizabeth Warren Promises ‘Full Range’ Of Federally-Funded ‘Reproductive Rights’ For Men)
She summed the “process” up as one “that is fundamentally about respecting the fact that we’ve got to work together on this … We’re going to make sure that everybody gets represented. We’re going to understand the urgency of the moment to get this solved with people who aren’t covered, and get ourselves on a path where everybody can get there and everybody can get covered at the lowest possible cost. That’s what Medicare for All is all about.”
Sanders has said Medicare for All would “absolutely” cover illegal immigrants. According to a poll conducted by the Kaiser Foundation, a majority of Americans support a Canadian-style government health care system — but the same majority doesn’t want to pay higher taxes for it.