bernie sanders

AP Photo/Nati Harnik





Sen. Bernie Sanders compared former Vice President Joe Biden's approach to healthcare reform to that of Republicans on Sunday, highlighting a combative new phase between two leading contenders in the Democratic presidential primary race.

Sanders directly rebuked Biden in an interview with The New York Times after the former vice president criticized the Vermont senator's signature "Medicare for All" plan during a New Hampshire campaign swing over the weekend.

Biden mentioned his opponent by name and attacked the proposal — which would create a single-payer healthcare system — as too costly to implement, citing its "$3 trillion" price and saying it would raise taxes on the middle class.

In a campaign video announcing a new healthcare plan on Monday, Biden again swiped at his primary rivals who supported "Medicare for All," saying that implementing it "means getting rid of Obamacare — and I'm not for that."

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Sen. Bernie Sanders compared former Vice President Joe Biden's approach to healthcare reform to that of Republicans on Sunday, highlighting a combative new phase between two leading candidates in the Democratic presidential primary race.

Sanders directly rebuked Biden in an interview with The New York Times after the former vice president criticized the Vermont senator's signature "Medicare for All" plan during a New Hampshire campaign swing over the weekend. Biden mentioned his opponent by name and attacked the proposal — which would create a single-payer healthcare system — as too costly to implement, citing its "$3 trillion" price and saying it would raise taxes on the middle class.

Read more: Americans are starting to dislike Bernie Sanders' 'Medicare for All' plan, but there is a Democratic healthcare idea that even Republicans voters like

Sanders fired back, telling The Times that he thought Biden's healthcare approach was a Republican one that aligned with the healthcare industry and disregarded measures that could save Americans money on their medical care.

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"Obviously what Biden was doing is what the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industries, Republicans, do: ignoring the fact that people will save money on their healthcare because they will no longer have to pay premiums or out-of-pocket expenses," Sanders told The Times. "They will no longer have high deductibles and high co-payments."

Read more: Democrats are embracing a radical change to US healthcare, and it could be the defining political fight for years to come

The battle between the two Democratic primary frontrunners stretched into Monday as Biden unveiled his long-anticipated healthcare plan, which would grant large new federal subsidies into the marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act and preserve the most popular elements of the law. It would also create a government-run public-insurance option allowing people to buy health insurance that competes with private health plans.

But in a campaign video announcing the plan, he swiped at his primary rivals who supported Medicare for All, warning that implementing it "means getting rid of Obamacare — and I'm not for that."

Then, Sanders shot back in a tweet and defended his role in approving President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law nearly a decade ago. He pointed out in a follow-up tweet that Obama supported "Medicare for-All," calling it in September last year one of the "good new ideas" Democrats were starting to embrace.

Tweet Embed:

//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1150767204956364800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

I fought to improve and pass Obamacare.



I traveled all over the country to fight the repeal of Obamacare.



But I will not be deterred from ending the corporate greed that creates dysfunction in our health care system. We must pass Medicare for All.

Opposing visions on healthcare reform have taken shape in the Democratic primary. Progressives on the left are arguing that aiming for Medicare for All allows the party to protect itself from negotiations that watered down the ACA's coverage and funding and to ensure universal healthcare. Moderates contend that shoring up the ACA and maintaining a role for private insurance is the most effective way to extend health insurance for Americans in the short term.

But the sprawling primary field is split: A dozen candidates favor the public option, while eight candidates support Medicare for All.

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