Sanders’ ‘Medicare for All’ expands longterm care benefits

— Sen. Bernie Sanders is raising the stakes of the “Medicare for All” debate by expanding his proposal to include long-term care, a move that is forcing other Democratic presidential candidates to take a stand on addressing one of the biggest gaps in the U.S. health care system.

Medicare for All is unlikely to advance in the GOP-controlled Senate, but it’s a defining issue in the early days of the Democratic primary and candidates have pointed to their support of Sanders’ legislation as proof of their progressive bona fides.

Some moderate Democrats have criticized the cost of such an expansive proposal and by adding the longterm care provision, Sanders could further expose that divide.

So far, 2020 candidates Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Kamala Harris of California say they’ll support Sanders’ more ambitious bill. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also backed the 2017 version of Medicare for All but has not said how longterm care might affect that.

Sanders’ move, confirmed by his office, follows action by Medicare for All allies in the House to incorporate a generous long-term care benefit in their newly introduced legislation. Medicare for All would replace the current mix of pri- vate and government financing for health care with a system paid for by the government and funded by higher taxes

As with the rest of Medicare for All, supporters aren’t saying how they would pay for long-term care, which experts estimate could cost several hundred billion dollars a year. Several independent estimates for the broader program have ranged from about $25 trillion over 10 years to $36 trillion, although supporters say it would be considerably less.

Still, the general idea of a government long-term care program has broad backing.

About two-thirds of U.S. adults favor a long-term care program similar to Medicare, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last year. That includes 76 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of Republicans.

The attention from Sanders as well as House Medicare for All leaders Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. and Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., comes after advocates for disabled people lobbied them to step up coverage for long-term care in the push for a national health care plan.

Many Americans assume that Medicare covers longterm care, but that’s not the case. Qualifying for public coverage under Medicaid, which covers low-income people, involves spending down lifetime savings.