Interviews during 2018-2020: on Health Care
Joe Sestak:
Create "public option," allow Canadian drug imports
Sestak voted for the Affordable Care Act, but while the law was being debated in Congress, he also said that he supported a "public option" for health insurance.
As president, he would also prioritize allowing cheaper drugs to be imported into the U.S. from Canada and directing more Medicaid funding toward addiction treatment services.
Source: PBS News Hour on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 16, 2019
Tom Steyer:
Open Medicare to all who want it
Health care: Pursue a single-payer health care plan, and crack down on pharmaceutical companies. In a 2018 speech, Steyer said he supported "opening Medicare to all who want it." Steyer said in 2017 that he was in favor of a single-payer health care
system. Steyer also criticized pharmaceutical companies for profiting off of drug sales and spurning the deadly opioid crisis. In 2017, he supported a California bill that would require drug manufacturers to provide notification of price increases.
Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 10, 2019
Joe Sestak:
For public option as path to single payer
Sestak wants to restore the Affordable Care Act and include a public option to "expand access to health insurance." He wants the success of his public option to engender the transition to a national healthcare system based off the Veterans
Health Administration. He advocates for allowing Medicare to bargain for the drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry. Sestak also wishes to import less expensive drugs from Canada.
Source: Townhall.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 9, 2019
Tom Steyer:
Keep private health insurance; but add public option
On one of the most important issues in the primary, Steyer said he does not support eliminating private health insurance to replace it with a government-run single-payer system."I am not in favor of telling 150 million Americans who get their health
care through their employment, including a bunch of union workers, that by fiat they can't do that any longer," he said. "I believe the way that we should end employment-based health care is providing a public option that is so much cheaper and better."
Source: NBC News on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 9, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Expand health care benefits and support for veterans
O`Rourke was the lead sponsor of a measure that expanded mental health care for veterans with "other-than-honorable" discharge. He successfully pushed for a measure that requires mental health examinations for those leaving military service.
O'Rourke's plan includes requiring the public reporting and display of staffing rations and wait times, expanding telehealth offerings,
pushing for an industry-wide standardization of electronic health care data, and mandating a new focus on mental health, addiction treatment and suicide prevention.
O`Rourke is also calling for National Institutes of Health spending on Alzheimer's research to double to $5 billion per year "to confront risks stemming from" military service.
Source: CNN coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 24, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
I support vaccines, but I understand the skepticism
After a request for comment [about her Tweet that vaccine mandates were "draconian" & "Orwellian"], Williamson acknowledged making the remarks and said she misspoke."I understand that many vaccines are important and save lives,"
Williamson said. "I also understand some of the skepticism that abounds today about drugs which are rushed to market by Big Pharma. I am sorry that I made comments which sounded as though I question the validity of life-saving vaccines.
That is not my feeling and I realize that I misspoke."
When asked about her stance on religious and personal belief exemptions for vaccinations, Williamson replied through a spokeswoman: "I support vaccines. Public safety must be carefully balanced
with the right of individuals to make their own decisions."
Williamson has a history of skeptical comments about vaccinations. President Trump has previously proudly embraced the disproved theory that vaccines cause autism.
Source: Los Angeles Times on 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 19, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Vaccination should be a choice, like abortion choice
Marianne Williamson leans in to vaccine skepticism in NH: "To me, it's no different than the abortion debate. The US government doesn't tell any citizen, in my book, what they have to do with their body or their child."
[She added an additional tweet that] vaccine mandates are too "draconian" & "Orwellian" [but later rescinded those terms].
Source: Twitter posting in 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 19, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Aligned with "intactivists": against circumcision
Andrew Yang's stance on key issues: Circumcision: In March, Yang came out against circumcision, telling the Daily Beast: "I'm highly aligned with the intactivists.
History will prove them even more correct. From what I've seen, the evidence on it being a positive health choice for the infant is quite shaky."
Source: Axios.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 22, 2019
Jay Inslee:
Declared emergency over measles anti-vaccination wave
Vaccinations: Inslee declared a state of emergency in
January after the anti-vaccination wave contributed to cases of measles, causing what he called a "public disaster."
Source: Axios.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 22, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Make Medicare for All a public option
I'd like to see a Medicare-for-All type of plan that's presented as a public option. I think a lot of people would gravitate to that. In addition, if people want private insurance, if they like their private insurers, or want to augment it, then they
should be able to. The issue is why are we going to do that. The reason we are going to do that is because you are a citizen of the United States. No citizen in the richest country of the world should have to be worrying about this.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 14, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
Medicare-for-all: no more private insurance plans
Senator Sanders reintroduced a "Medicare-for-all" bill, the idea that fueled his 2016 presidential run. As with its previous iterations, Sanders' latest bill would establish a national, single-payer Medicare system with vastly expanded benefits.
Sanders' plan would also prohibit private plans from competing with Medicare and would eliminate cost-sharing. New in this version is a universal provision for long-term care in home and community settings.
But many of the candidates--even official "Medicare-for-all" co-sponsors--are at the same time edging toward a more incremental approach, called "Medicare for America." This proposed Medicare for America system would guarantee universal
coverage, but leave job-based insurance available for those who want it. Unlike "Medicare-for-all," though, it would preserve premiums and deductibles, so beneficiaries would still have to pay some costs out-of-pocket.
Source: NPR, "Medicare-For-All," on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 11, 2019
Eric Swalwell:
Coverage for all, but don't eliminate private insurers
Swalwell published an op-ed in support of Medicare for All last month, writing that the policy is "the obvious solution to a health care system that still drives people to financial ruin." Swalwell also co-sponsored a Medicare for All bill in February.
In March, Swalwell said he supports "coverage for all" but is not in favor of eliminating private insurers, as some of his competitors are. A page that was once dedicated to the issue on his website is currently not working.
Source: PBS News Hour on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 10, 2019
Wayne Messam:
Medicare-for-All okay; open to any expansion of health care
"I think that health care should be a matter of civil right in this country. There's been some discussion about 'Medicare for All,' it seems to be the simplest reform idea. I'm open to any reform measure that expands coverage for all people. The
American people spend more on health care than any other wealthy country and yet we receive less for it. We must make sure that everyone in this country have access to quality health care. I look forward to all the policy options to make that a reality."
Source: WBUR FM (Boston) on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 9, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
State-by-state Medicaid expansion is a major step
As Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly urges lawmakers to expand Medicaid, Senate President Susan Wagle said, "The governor just called for the Senate to pass a bill that Bernie Sanders--a socialist--endorsed. And that's not going to happen in the Kansas Senate."
Kelly, who has made expansion her signature issue, said in the expansion debate the term "study" has come to mean "stall."The House vote to approve expansion in March attracted national attention. Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, called
it a "major step." But since then, the Senate hasn't taken action on the legislation.
If Kansas increases eligibility in the program, which provides health coverage to low-income individuals and individuals with disabilities, to 138% of the
federal poverty level, then the federal government will pay for 90% of the cost. For a family of four, that's $35,535 a year. The state's share of the cost of expansion has been estimated at somewhere between $34 million and $47 million a year.
Source: Wichita Eagle, "Medicaid," on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 2, 2019
Amy Klobuchar:
For public option, taking on Big Pharma
As president, I would immediately put in a public option proposal to Congress and that could be for Medicaid or Medicare. But that is also a way to get to our goal of universal health care coverage. I would make sure that we have negotiations for prices
under Medicare, that we bring in less expensive drugs from places like Canada and that we stop the practice where big pharma pays off their competitors to keep their products off the market.
Source: ABC This Week 2019 interviews for 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 31, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Supports Medicare for America as public option
O'Rourke is touting a proposal called Medicare for America, a public option bill that would enroll some Americans in a public plan while preserving private insurance for those who receive it from their employers. Rather than covering everyone equally
under a single program, it will maintain varying qualities of coverage with price tags based on income. It includes premiums of up to 10 percent of a person's annual income and out-of-pocket maximums of $5,000.
Source: Jacobin Mag., "Medicare for All," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 22, 2019
Eric Swalwell:
Keep private insurance; allow public option
He's for allowing Americans to have a choice between private healthcare coverage and government-run health benefits. Swalwell told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he's opposed to Medicare for All proposals supported by other Democrats running for
President that would bring an end to private insurance. "I support coverage for all, which would be a public option that would drive down the pressure on the private insurers," Swalwell said.
Source: Forbes Magazine, "Coverage," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 19, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Single payer option can lead to Medicare for all
A single-payer environment is probably the right answer in the long term, but I think any politician who throws around phrases like Medicare for all has to explain how we would get there. What you want to do is you take something like Medicare, you
put it on the exchanges as a public option, and if people like me are right that that is both good coverage and more cost efficient, then more and more people will buy in and it will be a very natural glide path towards the single-payer environment.
Source: Fox News Sunday 2019 interviews for 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 19, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Protect existing priorities, then expand Medicare & Medicaid
Beto O`Rourke said, "The goal has to be that every single one of us can see a doctor, take our child to a therapist, afford our prescriptions to be well enough to live to our full potential," speaking in a Radio Iowa interview. O'Rourke rattled off four
key priorities:- "The quickest way to get there in my mind is to ensure that we protect the safeguards that we already have."
- "Expansion of Medicaid in those states that haven't done it."
- "Allow people to buy in to
Medicare who are not already covered by employer insurance."
- "Ensure that there is an effective guarantee, so that even if you have insurance but are unable to afford the co-pay,
that we guarantee you that you are going to get the care, or the medication that you need."
Source: Forbes Magazine, "Medicare," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 17, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
1970s: For socialized medicine, public drug companies owned
"I believe in socialized medicine, public ownership of the drug companies and placing doctors on salaries.
The idea that millionaires can make money by selling poor people drugs that they desperately need for highly inflated prices disgusts me," he said.
Source: CNN KFile, "Nationalization," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 14, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Eventually make "health care for all" a reality
Pressed on his national-policy positions, O'Rourke says he wants to shore up the Affordable Care Act and make Medicare part of the health-care marketplace, and eventually make "health care for all" a reality.
As if to rebut the inevitable accusations that he's a socialist, he proclaims himself a proud capitalist--among the few
Democratic candidates, he points out, who have been small-business owners. "The ingenuity and innovation that you only find in America and in capitalist systems,
the ability to harness the power of the market," he says, "it's hard to argue against pricing carbon and allowing the market to respond to that."
Source: Joe Hagan in Vanity Fair on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 13, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Medicare for all who want it: public option
His big idea: Many of the Democrats in the presidential field have endorsed universal government-managed health insurance by expanding to everyone the Medicare programme that provides healthcare for the elderly. Mr Buttigieg didn't go that far on
Sunday night, instead opting for what he called "Medicare for all who want it". The way he described it, "you take some flavour of Medicare, you make it available on the exchange as a kind of public option, and you invite people to buy into it".
Source: BBC.com on 2020 Democratic primary contenders at 2019 SXSW
Mar 12, 2019
Eric Swalwell:
Yes to Medicare-for-All after time in the ICU with daughter
There's no place better to learn about the American health care system than in a hospital, among the afflicted and their families. You can particularly learn a lot by sleeping a few nights in your infant daughter's hospital room.
We need a Medicare for All universal health guarantee. We need, and Americans deserve, a health care system in which if you get sick you get seen, as well as one in which if you get seen, you don't go broke because of it.
Source: Swalwell OpEd on NBC News for 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 2, 2019
Amy Klobuchar:
Medicare-for-all is aspirational and for the future, not now
Sen. Amy Klobuchar placed herself firmly in the center lane of the Democratic primary, calling popular progressive policy platforms "aspirational," and declining to fully commit to them. The Minnesota Democrat called the Green New Deal "aspirational"
and said that Medicare-for-all is "something we can look to in the future." Klobuchar's centrist positions puts her largely in a category alone, as many of her Democratic opponents have opted to fully embrace Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal.
But she may soon be joined in that group by other moderate candidates, such as Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.
On health care, Klobuchar said she wanted to "build on" the Affordable Care Act, highlighting her support for a public option,
rather than calling for an immediate transition to Medicare-for-all. "It could be a possibility in the future," she said, "but I'm looking for what's working now."
Source: Politico.com on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Single rate for healthcare before single payer
Buttigieg says he's "all for" a single-payer health care system. But he has said he wouldn't immediately jump to single-payer from the current system.
Instead, Buttigieg would first implement an all-payer rate setting--a system that would not eliminate private insurance companies.
Source: PBS Newshour on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 15, 2019
Michael Bennet:
Make public plan optional; others can keep private insurance
There are two big projects for America on healthcare. One is covering everybody. It is a disgrace that we are the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't cover everybody. And the other thing we need to figure out how to do is not spend
twice as much on healthcare as we spend -- as any other industrialized country spends on healthcare to get worse results. That's what we're doing as a country. We've got to figure out how to do those two things.
And I actually would give the Nobel Prize to whoever can figure out how to do those two things. I think we'd be much better off with a bill like the one I have with Tim Kaine called Medicare X, that creates a public option. It helps finish the work
of ObamaCare. It says to America, "If you want to be in a public plan, you can choose to be in a public plan. If you want to keep your insurance, you can keep your insurance."
Source: Meet the Press 2019 interviews for 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 10, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
His generation not put off by claims of "socialism"
The element of his generation is that it is essentially pragmatic. "Take universal health care. It is very pragmatic to look around and say, well, the countries that do this tend to be better than the countries that don't. The system we have isn't
working very well; we ought to try this other system. Politically, it's never been possible, because it's been considered socialism, and socialism was a kill switch. Our generation did not live through the Cold War in the same way."
Source: New Yorker magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 9, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Gender reassignment surgery is part of health care
Q: Should transgender people in prison have access to gender reassignment surgery?BUTTIGIEG: Yeah. I believe that's part of health care. We provide health care to people who are incarcerated. The bigger issue is that too many people are incarcerated.
We need to treat everybody the same, if you regard this as part of health care. People try to turn others against this around the issue of cost, but the spectacular costs of incarceration have very little to do with things like gender reassignment.
Source: Washington Blade on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 5, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Single payer can still allow role for private insurance
If the framework we're using is Medicare, a lot of people who have Medicare also have Medicare supplements, Medicare Advantage, something like that. There can be a role for the private sector.I just don't believe that leaving Americans to the
tender mercies of corporations is the best way to organize the health sector in this country. The bottom line is most citizens in most developed countries, enjoy access to this kind of health care and Americans don't. It's wrong.
Source: ABC This Week 2019 interviews for 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 3, 2019
Mike Bloomberg:
We can never afford to replace employer-based health system
Some of the most popular issues among Democratic candidates--tuition free college, Medicare for all and a wealth tax--were among the proposals Bloomberg deemed unrealistic, too expensive and even unconstitutional.
The billionaire slammed a Medicare-for-All proposal floated by 2020 candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), saying the country could "never afford" replacing the employer-offered health care system in its entirety.
The Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat supports Medicare for those without health insurance, but he does not want to do away with the employer-provided model.
Bloomberg said, "I'm a little bit tired of listening to things are pie in the sky, that we never are going to pass, are never going to afford. I think it's just disingenuous to promote those things. You've got to do something that's practical."
Source: Stephanie Murray on Politico.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 29, 2019
Kirsten Gillibrand:
Provide a public option to get to universal coverage
The biggest worry almost every family in America has is the cost of health care because the insurance industry doesn't care. So the reason why I believe in Medicare for All is I think any family should have access to at least one not for profit public
option so they can compete with the for profit insurance industry that just has to make their quarterly profits and pay their shareholders value and make sure their CEO is make millions of dollars. If you buy into Medicare in the same way you buy into
your Social Security as an earned benefit it is far less expensive for every American than the amount of money they are paying now to the insurance industry. Let them buy in, let them just invest four percent of income, which is what our bill says, to
get access in the same way they invest six percent of their income into Social Security. If create it as a social safety net, people will get higher quality care that is less expensive, and they will always be covered.
Source: CBS Face the Nation 2019 interviews: 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 20, 2019
Steve Bullock:
Got Medicaid expansion through a GOP-dominated legislature
Bullock got Medicaid expansion through a Republican-dominated legislature, with a demographic makeup much like Iowa's. And he's worked with the state legislature to shed light on what campaign finance activists have termed "dark money"--political
contributions from outside interests that don't have to disclose their donors--in Montana politics. When Bullock talks about getting the Medicaid expansion through, someone lets out a low, appreciative whistle.
Source: Buzzfeed.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Sep 29, 2018
John Hickenlooper:
Too soon to make changes in Obamacare
[Some Democrats oppose single-payer plans]. Nancy Pelosi recently told frustrated town hall attendees that "if you want to move to single payer, what you should do is support state options," referring to state-level campaigns for single payer.
Democratic governor John Hickenlooper said that "it would be premature to dramatically remake our health-care system at this time" while existing reforms were "just beginning to bear fruit." He complained behind closed doors to a powerful lobby of
business leaders and political operatives that the "cost [is] going to be huge."
As California considered instituting a state-wide single-payer system on the eve of a possible GOP repeal of Obamacare, the state's Democratic governor Jerry
Brown rubbished the idea, asking: "Where do you get the extra money? How do you do that?" He compared it to solving a problem "by something that's a bigger problem," which "makes no sense."
Source: Jacobin Magazine, "Single Payer," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 29, 2017
Michael Bennet:
Single payer would lead to massive tax increase
[Some Democrats oppose single-payer plans]. Nancy Pelosi recently told frustrated town hall attendees that "if you want to move to single payer, what you should do is support state options," referring to state-level campaigns for single payer.
Democratic senator Michael Bennett told a local paper that single payer wasn't "the right approach to solving our health-care problems," partly due to the "massive tax increase" involved.
Source: Jacobin Magazine, "Single Payer," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 29, 2017
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021