1 00:00:01,966 --> 00:00:04,433 JUDY WOODRUFF: Next, we return to a new series we're launching on the policy positions of 2 00:00:04,433 --> 00:00:07,033 the 2020 presidential candidates. 3 00:00:07,033 --> 00:00:12,033 Tonight, Lisa Desjardins explores the various approaches to reforming health care coverage 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,333 that some prominent contenders are advocating. 5 00:00:15,333 --> 00:00:17,300 First, some background. 6 00:00:17,300 --> 00:00:22,200 LISA DESJARDINS: In the big-name, big-field Democratic race for president, health care 7 00:00:22,966 --> 00:00:23,966 is the biggest issue. 8 00:00:23,966 --> 00:00:26,500 SEN. 9 00:00:26,500 --> 00:00:27,166 KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY), Presidential Candidate: We want health care as a right, and not a 10 00:00:27,166 --> 00:00:28,666 privilege. 11 00:00:28,666 --> 00:00:29,400 LISA DESJARDINS: Much of it echoing one candidate. 12 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:31,466 SEN. 13 00:00:31,466 --> 00:00:33,566 BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), Presidential Candidate: Is health care a human right, or is it not? 14 00:00:33,566 --> 00:00:37,666 LISA DESJARDINS: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' Medicare for all legislation is co-sponsored 15 00:00:37,666 --> 00:00:42,633 by no less than four other senators and one congresswoman for president. 16 00:00:44,733 --> 00:00:47,633 The Sanders bill would create one government-run health care system, ending private health 17 00:00:47,633 --> 00:00:49,633 insurance. 18 00:00:49,633 --> 00:00:53,033 Medicare and Medicaid enrollees would transition into the new system. 19 00:00:53,033 --> 00:00:58,000 It wouldn't impact the Veterans Affairs or Indian Health Services coverage. 20 00:00:59,833 --> 00:01:03,066 But even as the most Democratic contenders so far seem to agree, look carefully. 21 00:01:04,266 --> 00:01:07,566 There is divide over how far to go and how fast. 22 00:01:07,566 --> 00:01:12,566 The day he announced his presidential run, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, when asked, 23 00:01:13,933 --> 00:01:15,400 said he wouldn't end private health insurance. 24 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,433 SEN. 25 00:01:17,433 --> 00:01:19,900 CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), Presidential Candidate: Even countries that have vast access to publicly 26 00:01:19,900 --> 00:01:22,300 offered health care still have private health care, so, no. 27 00:01:22,300 --> 00:01:26,200 LISA DESJARDINS: Also in favor of keeping private health insurance are Senators Kirsten 28 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:31,200 Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, that vs. California Senator 29 00:01:33,266 --> 00:01:36,633 Kamala Harris, who told a CNN town hall in January she does want to end private insurance. 30 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,500 SEN. 31 00:01:39,500 --> 00:01:41,200 KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), Presidential Candidate: I believe the solution -- and I actually feel 32 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,766 very strongly about this -- is that we need to have Medicare for all. 33 00:01:44,766 --> 00:01:45,766 That's just the bottom line 34 00:01:45,766 --> 00:01:47,833 (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) 35 00:01:47,833 --> 00:01:50,166 LISA DESJARDINS: Later, her communications team walked that back, saying she is open 36 00:01:50,166 --> 00:01:52,566 to other plans as well. 37 00:01:52,566 --> 00:01:57,533 Fully government-run health care is the broadest idea, but many Democratic candidates also 38 00:01:59,566 --> 00:02:02,766 support smaller takes on that, like expanding Medicare to start 10 years earlier, at age 39 00:02:04,766 --> 00:02:09,100 55, or offering a so-called public option, which would be a government-run health insurance 40 00:02:10,066 --> 00:02:13,000 plan, possibly like Medicare. 41 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,933 South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg told "NewsHour"'s Judy Woodruff he likes a government option 42 00:02:17,933 --> 00:02:20,466 now as a first step. 43 00:02:20,466 --> 00:02:21,933 PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), Mayor of South Bend, Indiana: take a version of Medicare or something like 44 00:02:21,933 --> 00:02:25,033 it, make it available as a public option on the exchange. 45 00:02:25,033 --> 00:02:28,433 Then this will be a very natural glide path to a single-payer environment. 46 00:02:28,433 --> 00:02:33,433 LISA DESJARDINS: Meanwhile, polling shows this is good political territory for Democrats. 47 00:02:33,433 --> 00:02:38,433 A Kaiser Family Foundation survey last month showed a majority, 56 percent, of Americans 48 00:02:40,466 --> 00:02:43,800 they surveyed favor a Medicare-for-all style national health plan, while 42 percent oppose. 49 00:02:46,033 --> 00:02:51,033 A whopping 77 percent support lowering the Medicare buy-in age to 50. 50 00:02:53,033 --> 00:02:57,033 Put Minnesota Senator Amy Klobachar in the camp of too soon for full-blown government 51 00:02:57,666 --> 00:02:58,233 run health care. 52 00:02:58,233 --> 00:03:00,433 SEN. 53 00:03:00,433 --> 00:03:02,500 AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), Presidential Candidate: I think it's something that we actually wanted 54 00:03:02,500 --> 00:03:05,166 to do back when we were looking at the Affordable Care Act, and we were stopped, was trying 55 00:03:06,033 --> 00:03:07,566 to get a public option in there. 56 00:03:07,566 --> 00:03:11,466 LISA DESJARDINS: All of this is a shift left from recent years. 57 00:03:11,466 --> 00:03:16,466 For example, the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 after Democrats dropped the idea of 58 00:03:17,066 --> 00:03:19,133 a public option. 59 00:03:19,133 --> 00:03:22,300 For much of the country, it's also changed from last year, when most Democrats running 60 00:03:22,300 --> 00:03:27,300 for Congress focused on saving the Affordable Care Act and its protections for sick people. 61 00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:32,966 Now the conversation on the Democratic presidential trail is about expanding past, sometimes far 62 00:03:34,333 --> 00:03:36,866 past, the Affordable Care Act. 63 00:03:36,866 --> 00:03:40,100 The candidates have some different takes on health care. 64 00:03:40,100 --> 00:03:42,433 And to talk about that, Dylan Scott joins us. 65 00:03:42,433 --> 00:03:45,900 He covers health care and domestic policy for Vox. 66 00:03:45,900 --> 00:03:49,600 Let's jump right into the terminology, which I think could become an issue for the next 67 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:50,600 year. 68 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:51,600 We hear Medicare for all. 69 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,066 We hear universal health care. 70 00:03:54,066 --> 00:03:56,900 Is it clear that those terms mean the same things to all of these candidates? 71 00:03:56,900 --> 00:04:00,433 DYLAN SCOTT, Vox: Well, I think it is important to be clear that there is a bill in the United 72 00:04:00,433 --> 00:04:05,400 States Senate called the Expand and Improve Medicare for All Act that Bernie Sanders has 73 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:07,533 put forward. 74 00:04:07,533 --> 00:04:11,066 And that would institute a single-payer national health insurance program that every American 75 00:04:11,066 --> 00:04:13,066 would be covered under. 76 00:04:13,066 --> 00:04:16,733 So that is the legislation that, when Bernie Sanders talks about Medicare for all, that's 77 00:04:16,733 --> 00:04:18,366 what he means. 78 00:04:18,366 --> 00:04:20,633 But Medicare for all has also taken on a bit of a life of its own. 79 00:04:20,633 --> 00:04:25,466 It's become a slogan that I think signifies that we want to expand health care access, 80 00:04:25,466 --> 00:04:29,733 we want more people to be able to join Medicare if they want to. 81 00:04:29,733 --> 00:04:34,233 But, for some people, the not -- maybe the people who aren't true believers in single-payer 82 00:04:34,233 --> 00:04:38,900 health care, it's become more of an effective branding to talk about universal health care, 83 00:04:38,900 --> 00:04:42,633 as opposed to a specific policy proposal that's been written into legislative text. 84 00:04:42,633 --> 00:04:45,166 LISA DESJARDINS: That leads exactly to my next question. 85 00:04:45,166 --> 00:04:50,166 We have almost every candidate from Congress who's a Democrat backing Bernie Sanders' plan, 86 00:04:51,166 --> 00:04:53,133 technically. 87 00:04:53,133 --> 00:04:55,766 Do we know, if president, if these people would actually enact that? 88 00:04:55,766 --> 00:04:57,700 It seems like it might not be their first choice. 89 00:04:57,700 --> 00:04:59,800 How do you break down what they really want to do? 90 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,733 DYLAN SCOTT: So I think of the Democratic candidates in a couple different buckets. 91 00:05:02,733 --> 00:05:07,566 You have the true believers, the Bernie Sanders, who say Medicare for all, single-payer is 92 00:05:07,566 --> 00:05:11,733 where we need to go, and that's the bill we should be putting up on the -- up in Congress 93 00:05:11,733 --> 00:05:15,633 in 2021, if we get control of the White House and the Senate and the House. 94 00:05:15,633 --> 00:05:19,766 But there's another bucket of Democrats who are a little more flexible, let's say. 95 00:05:19,766 --> 00:05:22,366 They -- they have endorsed the Bernie Sanders bill. 96 00:05:22,366 --> 00:05:25,233 They say their goal is to get to a Medicare for all system. 97 00:05:25,233 --> 00:05:29,266 But in the near term, they will talk about shoring up the Affordable Care Act, tackling 98 00:05:29,266 --> 00:05:31,833 prescription drug prices. 99 00:05:31,833 --> 00:05:35,233 And then over a little longer-term time horizon, they're more willing to take incremental steps 100 00:05:35,233 --> 00:05:37,300 to get to a Medicare for all system. 101 00:05:37,300 --> 00:05:41,700 Then, you do have a third bucket of Democrats who don't want anything to do with this. 102 00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:45,100 They're aware of some of the attacks that will be made against the Medicare for all 103 00:05:45,100 --> 00:05:50,100 program, like it'll lead to higher taxes, less access, the socialist takeover of the 104 00:05:50,700 --> 00:05:52,700 medical system. 105 00:05:52,700 --> 00:05:56,233 For Democratic voters, the interesting question will be, is it important to have a kind of 106 00:05:56,233 --> 00:05:59,233 absolutist approach, where we must have single-payer? 107 00:05:59,233 --> 00:06:03,066 Or do they like hearing that your goal is to expand health care access, but they're 108 00:06:03,066 --> 00:06:05,433 not as caught up on the details of how you get there? 109 00:06:05,433 --> 00:06:08,100 LISA DESJARDINS: There's also some political calculation here, right? 110 00:06:08,100 --> 00:06:12,133 If someone goes too far to the left in the primary, can they win in the general? 111 00:06:12,133 --> 00:06:16,700 What do we know about the overall population and what the Americans in general want for 112 00:06:16,700 --> 00:06:18,633 health care? 113 00:06:18,633 --> 00:06:21,933 DYLAN SCOTT: Voters are comfortable with a pretty robust government role in providing 114 00:06:21,933 --> 00:06:24,500 health care access to our population. 115 00:06:24,500 --> 00:06:28,300 Now, whether that means they're really interested in a single-payer program, I think, is the 116 00:06:28,300 --> 00:06:30,366 great undetermined question. 117 00:06:30,366 --> 00:06:33,533 When you talk to pollsters, they will actually say, I don't think Americans really know what 118 00:06:33,533 --> 00:06:35,533 they think about single-payer yet. 119 00:06:35,533 --> 00:06:39,333 We do like the idea of everybody having access to health care, and we're comfortable with 120 00:06:39,333 --> 00:06:41,833 the government having a big role in providing it. 121 00:06:41,833 --> 00:06:45,433 But people get a little antsy if they -- if they hear that, well, everybody is going to 122 00:06:45,433 --> 00:06:48,033 be forced into this government insurance program. 123 00:06:48,033 --> 00:06:50,066 They like the idea of choice. 124 00:06:50,066 --> 00:06:54,266 Now, whether that choice is, can I choose the insurance carrier and the insurance card 125 00:06:54,266 --> 00:06:58,333 that I keep in my wallet, or whether the more important choice is about what doctor I can 126 00:06:58,333 --> 00:07:02,400 go see and what hospital will take my insurance, I think that's one of the things that we're 127 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,500 still figuring out. 128 00:07:04,500 --> 00:07:08,366 Americans like the idea of universal health care, but higher taxes obviously make Americans 129 00:07:08,366 --> 00:07:09,966 nervous. 130 00:07:09,966 --> 00:07:12,200 The idea that they might lose some choice makes Americans nervous. 131 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,900 And so I think what remains to be seen is whether they're as committed as the Bernie 132 00:07:16,900 --> 00:07:20,566 Sanders of the world to a national health insurance program that's comparable to something 133 00:07:20,566 --> 00:07:24,300 like Canada, or whether they would be OK with more incremental steps. 134 00:07:24,300 --> 00:07:27,866 But the idea of disrupting a system that's mostly working for them makes them more nervous 135 00:07:27,866 --> 00:07:29,833 than anything else. 136 00:07:29,833 --> 00:07:31,433 LISA DESJARDINS: And we're also waiting to see in some cases how these candidates would 137 00:07:31,433 --> 00:07:32,833 pay for their plans, right? 138 00:07:32,833 --> 00:07:34,233 DYLAN SCOTT: Yes. 139 00:07:34,233 --> 00:07:36,666 That's the issue nobody really wants to touch. 140 00:07:36,666 --> 00:07:39,033 LISA DESJARDINS: Dylan Scott, we will ask you about it hopefully in the future. 141 00:07:39,033 --> 00:07:40,033 Thank you for joining us. 142 00:07:40,033 --> 00:07:40,333 DYLAN SCOTT: Thank you.