Joe Biden said having Medicare for All in the US would not help solve the coronavirus crisis. “With all due respect to Medicare for All, you have a single payer system in Italy. It doesn't work there. … That would not solve the problem” https://t.co/T5K3gcEp7m #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/CI9vAhbtCX

During Sunday’s CNN Democratic presidential debate, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden said that Medicare for all wouldn’t solve the coronavirus problem, cited Italy’s single-payer system, and said, “It doesn’t work there.”

Biden said, “[W]ith all due respect to Medicare for all, you have a single-payer system in Italy. It doesn’t work there. It has nothing to do with Medicare for all. That would not solve the problem at all. We can take care of that right now by making sure that no one has to pay for treatment, period, because of the crisis, no one has to pay for whatever drugs are needed, period, because of the crisis, no one has to pay for hospitalization because of the crisis, period. That is a national emergency and that’s how it’s handled. It is not working in Italy right now, and they have a single-payer system.”

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