On Friday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she is not a big supporter of a "Medicare for All" plan as the Democratic presidential candidates are rolling out their versions of "Medicare for All."
In an interview on BloombergTV, Pelosi credited the Democrats' 2018 majority win in the House of Representatives to their support for lowering the cost of healthcare. She cautioned against embracing proposals that would force people to lose their private health insurance plans.
"I'm not a big fan of 'Medicare For All'— I welcome the debate. I think we should have health care care for all. I think the affordable care benefit is better than the Medicare benefits, but we have invited advocates to testify and congress in the budget committee and on the rules committee. Being respectful of this point of view, but it is expensive, and who pays is very important, and what are the benefits that come in there," Pelosi told the host.
"I would think that hopefully as we emerge into the election year, the mantra would be more health care for all Americans. There is a comfort level that people have with their current, private insurance that they have, and if that is to be phased out, let’s talk about it, but let’s not just have one bill that do that," she continued.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) released her "Medicare for All" plan on Friday, where she promised there will be no tax increase on middle-income families. The total cost for the proposal is "just under $52 trillion."
Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign said it is impossible to pay for Warren's plan without raising new taxes on the middle class.
"The mathematical gymnastics in this plan are all geared towards hiding a simple truth from voters: it’s impossible to pay for Medicare for All without middle class tax increases. For months, Elizabeth Warren has refused to say if her health care plan would raise taxes on the middle class, and now we know why: because it does. Sen. Warren would place a new tax of nearly $9 trillion that will fall on American workers," the campaign said in statement.