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Buttigieg’s Medicare plan is still a good idea

Some presidential candidates think that voters can’t count to 60. Sixty votes are necessary to invoke cloture (end debate) in the U.S. Senate. No bill creating new legislation like the “Medicare for All” plan of Senator Bernie Sanders will advance without clearing that legislative hurdle.

The Senate is a place of arcane rules where much legislation meets its doom. Coupled with an unscrupulous Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, any progressive legislation will die unless another path is available.

Fortunately, another way exists to extend affordable health care to millions. With Pete Buttigieg’s “Medicare for All Who Want It,” everyone can choose an affordable, comprehensive public alternative that will incentivize private insurers to compete on price and reduce costs.

Pete’s plan is politically possible because it builds off of the Affordable Care Act. A connection to that existing legislation allows “Medicare for All Who Want It” to be done through the process of budget reconciliation, which only needs 51 votes. If Democrats want to pass meaningful health care reform, this is the way to do it.