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Add another major 2020 Democratic player to the list of supporters of single-payer health insurance: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
"Yes," the New York senator does support single-payer, her senior adviser Glen Caplin told me.
Gillibrand first seemed to endorse the idea on the steps outside the Capitol this week, in a Facebook Live hosted by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. "Health care should be a right, it should never be a privilege. We should have Medicare for all in this country," she said.
However, Gillibrand in the past hasn't used the phrase "Medicare for all" as a substitute for "single-payer" the same way Bernie Sanders does. Instead, as Caplin pointed out, "since she first ran for Congress in 2006 in a red district, Kirsten has been advocating for 'Medicare for all' where anyone can buy into Medicare for a price they can afford" — that is, by paying a fixed percentage of their income.
That all begged the follow-up: Does Gillibrand support single-payer? Her senior adviser's answer — "yes" — to that question is a major development for Gillibrand. It positions her with Sanders, progressive activists, and as of this week, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who told The Wall Street Journal that on health care, "now it's time for the next step. And the next step is single-payer." Per the Pew Research Center, 52% of Democrats support single-payer.
Democrats generally want to set aside the topic of single-payer while they are fighting President Donald Trump's effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. But for the 2020 Democratic presidential race, embracing it increasingly seems to be the price of admission into the upper tier.
#2020Vision: Gillibrand backs single-payer ... Booker's Facebook Live ... Biden the lifeguard ... Kander goes to New Hampshire - CNNPolitics.com
"Yes," the New York senator does support single-payer, her senior adviser Glen Caplin told me.
Gillibrand first seemed to endorse the idea on the steps outside the Capitol this week, in a Facebook Live hosted by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. "Health care should be a right, it should never be a privilege. We should have Medicare for all in this country," she said.
However, Gillibrand in the past hasn't used the phrase "Medicare for all" as a substitute for "single-payer" the same way Bernie Sanders does. Instead, as Caplin pointed out, "since she first ran for Congress in 2006 in a red district, Kirsten has been advocating for 'Medicare for all' where anyone can buy into Medicare for a price they can afford" — that is, by paying a fixed percentage of their income.
That all begged the follow-up: Does Gillibrand support single-payer? Her senior adviser's answer — "yes" — to that question is a major development for Gillibrand. It positions her with Sanders, progressive activists, and as of this week, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who told The Wall Street Journal that on health care, "now it's time for the next step. And the next step is single-payer." Per the Pew Research Center, 52% of Democrats support single-payer.
Democrats generally want to set aside the topic of single-payer while they are fighting President Donald Trump's effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. But for the 2020 Democratic presidential race, embracing it increasingly seems to be the price of admission into the upper tier.
#2020Vision: Gillibrand backs single-payer ... Booker's Facebook Live ... Biden the lifeguard ... Kander goes to New Hampshire - CNNPolitics.com