When an NBC moderator asked which presidential candidates onstage supported abolishing private insurance, only two Democrats raised their hands: Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
During the first 30 minutes of the first round of 2020 Democratic debates, Warren reaffirmed her commitment to a Medicare for All bill sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), while lambasting private insurance companies.
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“Yes, I’m with Bernie on Medicare for all,” the 2020 hopeful said on Wednesday evening to applause from the audience.
The type of legislation pushed by Sanders would replace all public and private health care plans with a single-payer system. Citing $23 billion in improper payments Medicaid made in 2017’s fiscal year, Warren criticized the insensitive structure for private insurance companies.
“Look at the business model of an insurance company,” continued Warren. “It leaves family with rising premiums, rising co-pays, fighting with insurance companies to get the health care they need. That’s why we need Medicare for all.”
The senator’s praise for Medicare for All is her biggest endorsement of the initiative to-date. Although she has supported the policy, she has also offered mixed solutions on how to achieve it, and previously said private companies may have a “temporary role.”
“Health care is a basic human right and I will fight for basic human rights,” said Warren on Wednesday. “We have a giant system that wants our health care system to stay as it is.”
