The Democrats who are running in the 2020 primary election season each have their own ideas on healthcare. Some want to completely end private healthcare altogether and enforce Medicare-for-All (a form of socialist healthcare which would raise taxes on middle America and decrease the quality of provided care). Other candidates are interested in expanding upon Obamacare and thus restoring the dreaded individual mandate which forced Americans to either pay a penalty fee or purchase healthcare which may not even work for them.
Both of the aforementioned healthcare proposals are inarguably terrible; however, 2020 candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are content to go back and forth with one another on which plan they think is worse. Fox News reports that Sanders and Biden continue to take shots at one another following Thursday night’s debate in Houston.
Reviewing the Two Terrible Proposals
Biden and Sanders remained in a battle with one another during their time at separate campaign spots on Friday. During the former vice president remarks in Houston, he stated that the healthcare plans of Sanders and Warren are too expensive.
This is a point which Biden made during a back-and-forth with Sanders on the debate stage. Biden remained in Houston on Friday, stating that while he didn’t doubt the “motives” of Sanders or Warren, Medicare-for-All is simply too expensive.
In Biden’s own words:
“It’s going to cost over $3.4 trillion dollars a year just to fund Medicare. $3.4 trillion a year. That is twice the entire federal budget save interest on the debt and so how do you do that without raising taxes? There’s not enough taxes to cut — eliminate tax breaks for the wealthy — there’s not enough out there to get you there.”
Response from the Sanders Campaign
Following Biden’s remarks, Sanders issued a campaign statement in which he slammed the former vice president for “echoing the deceptions and falsehoods of the health care industry.” He followed up by claiming that Biden may “love” the status quo of healthcare, but “most Americans don’t.”
“Biden may love the insurance industry and the outrageously high premiums, co-payments and out-of-pocket expenses they charge us. Most Americans don’t.”
When Sanders traveled to Carson City, Nevada, he stated that $4,000-$5,000 deductibles, expensive healthcare premiums, and high fees for prescriptions drugs are problematic.
What do you think about the back and forth between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders? Sound off in the comments section below!