The Trentonian (Trenton, NJ)

For Democrats, a shift toward the middle on health care

- By Michelle L. Price and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

LAS VEGAS >> Rank-and-file Democrats appear to be shifting to the middle on health care, worried about what’s politicall­y achievable on their party’s top 2020 issue.

While “Medicare for All” remains hugely popular, the majority say they’d prefer building on “Obamacare” to expand coverage instead of a new government program that replaces America’s mix of private and public insurance.

Highlighte­d by a recent national poll, the shifting views are echoed in interviews with voters and the evolving positions of Democratic presidenti­al candidates . Some have backed away from the government­run plan championed by Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachuse­tts that for months had seemed to be gaining momentum.

It could mean trouble for Sanders and his supporters, signaling a limit to how far Democratic voters are willing to move to the left amid doubts that Americans would back such dramatic changes to their health care.

“We hear Medicare for All, but I’m not absolutely certain what that means and what that would then mean for me,” said Democrat Terrie Dietrich, who lives near Las Vegas. “Does it mean that private insurance is gone forever?”

Dietrich, 74, has Medicare and supplement­s that with private insurance, an arrangemen­t she said she’s pretty comfortabl­e with.

She thinks it’s important that everyone has health care, not just those who can afford it. She said she would support Medicare for All if it was the only way to achieve that.

But “I don’t think we can ever get it passed,” Dietrich added.

Erin Cross, her 54-yearold daughter and also a Democrat, said she’s uncomforta­ble with switching to a system in which a government plan is the only choice. She said Democrats won’t be able to appeal to Republican­s unless they strike a middle ground and allow people to keep their private insurance.

“We’ve got to get some of these other people, these Republican voters, to come on over just to get rid of Trump,” she said.

Democratic presidenti­al candidates also have expressed skepticism.

California Sen. Kamala Harris’ new plan would preserve a role for private insurance. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is open to stepby-step approaches. Meanwhile, health care moderates including former Vice President Joe Biden have been blunt in criticizin­g the government-run system envisioned by Sanders.

In Nevada, the early voting swing state that tests presidenti­al candidates’ appeal to labor and a diverse population, moderate Democrats have won statewide by focusing on health care affordabil­ity and preserving protection­s from President Barack Obama’s law.

Nationwide, 55% of Democrats and independen­ts who lean Democratic said in a poll last month they’d prefer building on Obama’s Affordable Care Act instead of replacing it with Medicare for All. The survey by the nonpartisa­n Kaiser Family Foundation found 39% would prefer Medicare for All. Majorities of liberals and moderates concurred.

On a separate question, Democratic support for Medicare for All was a robust 72% in July, but that was down from 80% in April, a drop Kaiser says is statistica­lly significan­t but not necessaril­y a definitive downward trend.

That said, Kaiser pollster Liz Hamel said it wouldn’t be surprising if it turned into one. On big health care ideas, she said, “as the public starts seeing arguments for and against, we often see movement.”

The Kaiser survey also found broad backing for the public-option alternativ­e that moderates are touting, a government plan that would compete with but not replace private insurance. Eighty-five percent of Democrats supported that idea, along with 68% of independen­ts. Republican­s were opposed, 62% to 36%.

Large increases in federal spending and a significan­t expansion of government power are often cited as arguments against Medicare for All. However, the main criticism Democrats are hearing from some of their own candidates is that the Sanders plan would force people to give up their private health insurance. Under the Vermont senator’s legislatio­n, it would be unlawful for insurers or employers to offer coverage for benefits provided by the new government plan.

Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan argued during the last round of Democratic debates that that’s problemati­c for union members with hard-fought health care plans secured by sacrificin­g wage increases. However, Sanders has long asserted his plan will allow unions to obtain bigger wage increases by taking health care out of the equation.

In interviews with The Associated Press, union workers in Nevada said they worried about how Medicare for All would affect their coverage.

Chad Neanover, prep cook at the Margaritav­ille casinorest­aurant on the Las Vegas Strip, said he would be reluctant to give up the comprehens­ive insurance that his union has fought to keep. He has asthma, and his wife is dealing with diabetes. The union’s plan has no monthly premium cost and no deductible.

“I don’t want to give up my health insurance. I’ve personally been involved in the fight to keep it,” said Neanover, 44. “A lot of people have fought to have what we have today.”

Savannah Palmira, a 34-year-old union constructi­on worker in Las Vegas, said she’s open to supporting Medicare for All, but wants to know specifical­ly what it would look like, how the country would transition and how it would affect her plan.

 ?? MICHELLE L. PRICE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Terrie Dietrich, left, and her daughter Erin Cross, talk in Dietrich’s home in Henderson, Nev., Thursday.
MICHELLE L. PRICE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Terrie Dietrich, left, and her daughter Erin Cross, talk in Dietrich’s home in Henderson, Nev., Thursday.

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