WASHINGTON: Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden unveiled a US$750 billion healthcare plan on Monday that he said would strengthen the Affordable Care Act, drawing a contrast with rivals who back a more sweeping "Medicare for All" government-run system.
Biden portrayed White House rivals led by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who back a single-payer plan that eliminates private insurance, as a threat to former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law known as Obamacare.
Biden portrayed White House rivals led by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who back a single-payer plan that eliminates private insurance, as a threat to former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law known as Obamacare.
“I understand the appeal of Medicare for All. But folks supporting it should be clear that it means getting rid of Obamacare, and I’m not for that," Biden, who was Obama's vice president for eight years, said in a video.
Sanders is the lead Senate sponsor of a Medicare for All bill that would shift Americans into a Medicare-based, single-payer government-run system that eliminates private insurance. Medicare is the government insurance plan for the elderly.
Four other White House candidates in the U.S. Senate - Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren - also support the proposal, which has become one of the primary points of contention in the Democratic race to select a nominee to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in 2020.
Obamacare, a longtime target of Trump and other Republicans who have tried to repeal it, is a popular program with Democrats.
Biden's healthcare plan, estimated to cost
Sanders is the lead Senate sponsor of a Medicare for All bill that would shift Americans into a Medicare-based, single-payer government-run system that eliminates private insurance. Medicare is the government insurance plan for the elderly.
Four other White House candidates in the U.S. Senate - Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren - also support the proposal, which has become one of the primary points of contention in the Democratic race to select a nominee to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in 2020.
Obamacare, a longtime target of Trump and other Republicans who have tried to repeal it, is a popular program with Democrats.
Biden's healthcare plan, estimated to cost
US$750 billion over 10 years and paid for partly by higher taxes on the wealthy, would include a public option that would let people enroll in a paid government healthcare plan that exists alongside private insurance.
"We have to protect and build on Obamacare," Biden said in the video.
Sanders responded that he had fought to improve and pass Obamacare and protect the law from Republican efforts to repeal it.
"But I will not be deterred from ending the corporate greed that creates dysfunction in our healthcare system. We must pass Medicare for All," Sanders said on Twitter.
U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, another Democratic presidential contender, called on Sanders, Warren, Harris and other Democratic contenders to reconsider their support for Medicare for All.
"We have to protect and build on Obamacare," Biden said in the video.
Sanders responded that he had fought to improve and pass Obamacare and protect the law from Republican efforts to repeal it.
"But I will not be deterred from ending the corporate greed that creates dysfunction in our healthcare system. We must pass Medicare for All," Sanders said on Twitter.
U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, another Democratic presidential contender, called on Sanders, Warren, Harris and other Democratic contenders to reconsider their support for Medicare for All.
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