Progressive darling and Squad member Rashida Tlaib on Saturday voted "no" on the Democratic Party platform. Talib said she voted "no" because she wants to see Medicare for All.
Today, I cast my DNC ballot and voted NO on the proposed platform. I constantly hear from constituents demanding we push for a single-payer system and away from this for-profit system that is leaving people to suffer and die just because they cannot afford health care. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/cYghYNu6TI
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 16, 2020
According to the freshman congresswoman, the platform doesn't go far enough to "rid our society of oppression and greed."
As a party, we must push for a future where every resident has the ability to thrive. That means we need a platform that works to rid our society of oppression and greed. Unfortunately, in my view this platform does not do enough. 2/2
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 16, 2020
According to the Democratic Party's platform draft, the goal is to expand health care:
We are going to at last build the health care system the American people have always deserved: one that finally provides universal health care coverage; reduces prescription drug price, premiums, and out-of-pocket costs; reins in overall health care expenses; and tackles the deep seated inequities in our health care system. We will build a health care system that is driven by the needs of patients and the people who care for them, instead of the profit motives of corporations. We will tackle entrenched racial disparities in health care, reduce prescription drug prices by standing up to big pharmaceutical companies, and make it easier to access mental health and substance use disorder treatment and long-term services and supports in metropolitan and rural areas alike.
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Democrats' goal, according to the platform, is to expand Obamacare by providing a public option on the ACA marketplace:
The public option will provide at least one plan choice without deductibles; will be administered by CMS, not private companies; and will cover all primary care without any co-payments and control costs for other treatments by negotiating prices with doctors and hospitals, just like Medicare does on behalf of older people.
Everyone will be eligible to choose the public option or another Affordable Care Act marketplace plan. To help close the persistent racial gap in insurance rates, Democrats will expand funding for Affordable Care Act outreach and enrollment programs, so every American knows their options for securing quality, affordable coverage.
The lowest-income Americans, including more than four million adults who should be eligible for Medicaid but who live in states where Republican governors have refused to expand the program, will be automatically enrolled in the public option without premiums; they may opt out at any time. And we will enable millions of older workers to choose between their employer provided plans, the public option, or enrolling in Medicare when they turn 60, instead of having to wait until they are 65.
Apparently automatically enrolling people to Medicaid and expanding health care to include a public option doesn't go far enough for Tlaib. That means she wants to eliminate private insurance and health care options that Americans currently have. This is another example of "if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor."
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