In Iowa, Elizabeth Warren defends new public option component of health care plan as rivals step up critiques

Barbara Rodriguez | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Elizabeth Warren discusses her plan for Medicare During a forum hosted by the Des Moines Register and AARP, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren talks about her plan for Medicare in July 2019.

WAVERLY, Ia. — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Saturday defended her new transition plan toward reaching “Medicare for All,” dismissing criticism from former Vice President Joe Biden and other Democratic presidential candidates that she might be delaying a single-payer health care system because it's not politically feasible.

"Look, I've shown how we can do this without raising middle-class taxes by one penny. I've shown how we can do this ... to get help immediately for people on day one, in the first 90 days and within three years," Warren of Massachusetts told reporters in Waverly following a town hall at Wartburg College. "It's all laid out."

Warren was responding to remarks from Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager and communications director for Biden, who had said in a statement Friday: “Having discovered how problematic her embrace of Medicare for All has become … Senator Warren is now trying to muddy the waters even further."

Warren's new plan, released in a Medium post on Friday, proposes transitioning to a government-run Medicare for All system, in part, by first enacting a public option plan by the end of her first 100 days as president. The plan, which would include offering free health care coverage to children and people with low incomes, would be passed in part by using procedures in the U.S. Senate that would require only a simple majority vote.

Warren, who has made Medicare for All a signature part of her campaign for president, said she would build support for a full-scale expansion to that system by the end of her third year as president.

"I'm fully committed on Medicare for All," Warren told reporters in Waverly. "And what I've done, is I've shown two things we can do. We can do it by not raising taxes a single penny on middle-class families, and we can get people into the system in three years. I think this is just an exciting possibility."

Warren was also asked by a reporter whether the new plan is an acknowledgement that a single-payer health care system is not politically feasible.

“I don’t see it that way at all,” Warren said. “… The way I see this, is that there is an intense need right now for relief.”

When asked about why she was releasing the plan now instead of earlier in the campaign, she said: "Right now is when it's ready."

The Warren campaign doesn't characterize her transitional plan as a public option because it would be more comprehensive. Under health care coverage available within the first 100 days of a Warren presidency, every American over the age of 50 would be eligible to join. Coverage would be free to children under 18 and for families at or below 200% of the federal poverty level (about $51,000 for a family of four, according to the campaign).

Warren, one of the top-tier candidates in the crowded Democratic field for president, has been on defense over her vision for health care. A few weeks ago, she released additional details about how she plans to pay for a single-payer health care system.

That came after some of Warren’s competitors in the race repeatedly asked her whether her plan would raise taxes for middle-class Americans. Warren says her plan will not.

Warren took the stage at her second event in Cedar Rapids, her second of the day, as a new Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll showed her support in Iowa had slipped from 22% to 16%.

Warren promoted Medicare for All at both events. But she talked about her transitional plan more openly in Cedar Rapids, repeating that she's trying to bring "immediate relief."

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is the other top-tier candidate in the race who supports Medicare for All, and he's indicated that he plans to push for a single-payer health care system immediately if he's elected president. He hasn't released detailed plans on how he plans to pay for it, though he has indicated it could include raising middle-class taxes, but with the effect of lowering overall costs.

Fellow Democrats critique Warren's plans

Warren’s other competitors on Friday pounced on the latest news of her transition plan.

Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttgieg both support a public option plan that keeps private insurance. Buttigieg has focused his plan, which he calls “Medicare for All Who Want It,” around giving voters choice in keeping private insurance.

Lis Smith, senior communications adviser to Buttgieg, called Warren’s plan “a transparently political attempt to paper over a very serious policy problem.”

“Despite adopting Pete’s language of ‘choice,’ her plan is still a ‘my way or the highway’ approach that would eradicate choice for millions of Americans,” Smith said in a statement.

Biden, in Iowa, had earlier called Warren's Medicare for All plan 'elitist.'

"The attitude that you know better than ordinary people what’s in their interests," Biden said earlier this month. "'I know more than you, let me tell you what to do.' It wasn’t 'she’s elitist.' The attitude is elitist that people can’t make up their own mind."

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado supports a public option for health care access that he calls “Medicare-X.” In a statement, Bennet said: “Elizabeth Warren is trying to have her cake and eat it, too.”

Joe Nation, a 36-year-old custodian in Waverly, said he's still processing Warren's new transition plan. He has not been in favor of Medicare for All, and he felt Warren's new messaging may be "misleading" about what she ultimately plans to accomplish.

"I'm highly skeptical that you'll be able to pass a second health care bill after the midterms," he said.

Patsy Reed, a retiree in Waverly who's turning 70 on Sunday, said she was intrigued by Warren's plan. Reed said she likes Warren, but she's concerned about whether enough Americans would support Medicare for All.

"It may be a game-changer," Reed said, though she added that she needs to review it.

Barbara Rodriguez covers health care and politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at bcrodriguez@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8011. Follow her on Twitter @bcrodriguez.

Your subscription makes work like this possible. Sign up at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.