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‘Medicare for All’: Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg Clash at Debate ‘Medicare for All’: Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg Clash at Debate
(about 3 hours later)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg directly criticized Senator Elizabeth Warren over health care at Tuesday night’s debate, saying that she had not been forthcoming about whether she would raise taxes on the middle class to help finance “Medicare for all.”Mayor Pete Buttigieg directly criticized Senator Elizabeth Warren over health care at Tuesday night’s debate, saying that she had not been forthcoming about whether she would raise taxes on the middle class to help finance “Medicare for all.”
Ms. Warren was asked if she would raise taxes on the middle class, and she responded by focusing on the costs that middle-class families would incur. “I will not sign a bill into law that does not lower costs for middle-class families,” she said.Ms. Warren was asked if she would raise taxes on the middle class, and she responded by focusing on the costs that middle-class families would incur. “I will not sign a bill into law that does not lower costs for middle-class families,” she said.
Mr. Buttigieg, who last month called Ms. Warren “extremely evasive” on the issue, criticized Ms. Warren for not directly answering the question.Mr. Buttigieg, who last month called Ms. Warren “extremely evasive” on the issue, criticized Ms. Warren for not directly answering the question.
“We heard it tonight,” Mr. Buttigieg said. “A yes-or-no question that didn’t get a yes-or-no answer. This is why people are so frustrated with Washington in general and Capitol Hill in particular.”“We heard it tonight,” Mr. Buttigieg said. “A yes-or-no question that didn’t get a yes-or-no answer. This is why people are so frustrated with Washington in general and Capitol Hill in particular.”
Ms. Warren has repeatedly faced questions about how she would pay for “Medicare for all,” which she supports. In particular, she has consistently declined to specify whether she would raise taxes on the middle class to help finance such a system.Ms. Warren has repeatedly faced questions about how she would pay for “Medicare for all,” which she supports. In particular, she has consistently declined to specify whether she would raise taxes on the middle class to help finance such a system.
Instead, Ms. Warren has tried to reframe the issue around the total costs that families would face under Medicare for all. In the past, she has said that costs would go up for “the very wealthy and big corporations,” but they would go down for families in the middle class.Instead, Ms. Warren has tried to reframe the issue around the total costs that families would face under Medicare for all. In the past, she has said that costs would go up for “the very wealthy and big corporations,” but they would go down for families in the middle class.
She has also said “I’m with Bernie” on Medicare for all, referring to her Democratic primary rival Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has championed single-payer health care.She has also said “I’m with Bernie” on Medicare for all, referring to her Democratic primary rival Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has championed single-payer health care.
But unlike Ms. Warren, Mr. Sanders has provided a direct answer to the question of whether taxes on the middle class would rise. “Yes, they will pay more in taxes, but less in health care for what they get,” he said in the first series of primary debates, in June.But unlike Ms. Warren, Mr. Sanders has provided a direct answer to the question of whether taxes on the middle class would rise. “Yes, they will pay more in taxes, but less in health care for what they get,” he said in the first series of primary debates, in June.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
BUTTIGIEG: We heard it tonight. A yes or no question that didn’t get a yes or no answer. This is why people here in the Midwest are so frustrated with Washington in general and Capitol Hill in particular. Your signature, Senator, is to have a plan for everything — except this. No plan has been laid out to explain how a multi-trillion dollar hole in this Medicare-for All- plan ... is supposed to get filled in. The thing is, we can deliver health care for every American and move forward with boldest, biggest transformation since Medicare itself. But the way to do it without a giant multi-trillion dollar hole, and without having to avoid a yes or no questions, is Medicare for All who want it. We take a version of Medicare, we let you access it if you want to, and if you prefer to stay on the private plan, you can do that to. That is what most Americans want, Medicare for all who want it, trusting you to make the right decision for your health care, and for your family — and it can be delivered without an increase of middle-class taxes.
WARREN: So let’s be clear, whenever someone hears the term “Medicare for All who want it,” understand what that really means: It’s Medicare for all who can afford it. And that’s the problem we’ve got. Medicare for All is the gold standard. It’s the way we get health care coverage for every single American, including the family whose child has been diagnosed with cancer, including the person who has just gotten an MS diagnosis. That’s how we make sure that everyone gets health care. We can pay for this, I’ve laid out the basic principals. Costs are going to go up for wealthy, they’re going to go up for big corporations. They will not go up for middle class families. And I will not sign a bill into law that raises their costs. Because costs are what people care about.
BUTTIGIEG: I don’t think the American people are wrong when they say that what they want is a choice. The choice of Medicare for All who want it, which is affordable for everyone, because we make sure that the subsidies are in place, allows you to get that health care. It’s just better than Medicare for All whether you want it or not. And I don’t understand why you believe the only way to deliver affordable coverage to everybody is to obliterate private plans. Kicking 150 million American’s off of their insurance in four short years when we could achieve that same big, bold goal and, once again, we have a president that we’re competing to be president for the day after Trump. Our country will be polarized — even more than now, after everything we have been through, after everything we are about to go through, this country will be more divided. Why unnecessarily divide this country over health care when there’s a better way to deliver coverage for all?