Biden banking on Obamacare
DES MOINES, Iowa — Joe Biden is taking an aggressive approach to defending the Affordable Care Act, challenging not just President Donald Trump but also some of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination who want to replace the current insurance system with a fully government-run model.
The former vice president told voters in Iowa that he is “against any Republican (and) any Democrat who wants to scrap” the law. He’s also talked of “building on” Obamacare.
He released a proposal Monday that would add a “public option” to the 2010 health care overhaul, with expanded coverage paid for by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. He touted the public option as “the quickest ... most rational way to get universal coverage.” A sudden transition to “Medicare for All,” he said, “is kind of risky.”
Biden hopes his positioning as Obamacare’s chief defender will be a reminder of his close work alongside former President Barack Obama, who remains popular among Democrats. And it could reinforce his pitch as a sensible centrist promising to rise above the strident cacophony of Trump and more liberal Democrats who are single-payer advocates.
“I think one of the most significant things we’ve done in our administration is pass the Affordable Care Act,” Biden said last weekend in New Hampshire. “I don’t know why we’d get rid of what in fact was working and move to something totally Biden new.”
Biden’s health care proposal is anchored by a “Medicare-like” plan that any American, including the 150 million-plus Americans now covered by jobbased insurance, could buy on Affordable Care Act exchanges.
The proposal would make existing premium subsidies more generous and expand eligibility for middleincome households. It also would extend premium-free coverage to lower-income Americans who have been denied access to Medicaid in Republican-run states that refused to participate in the Affordable Care Act.
The campaign puts the taxpayer cost at $750 billion over 10 years, which would be covered by returning the top marginal income tax to 39.6%, the rate before the 2017 GOP tax cuts. Some multimillionaires also would lose certain capital gains tax advantages.