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Joe Biden is taking aim at Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren during an eight-day tour of Iowa that the former vice president hopes will help him gain ground in the state that holds the first presidential caucus. Biden argued Tuesday that Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is riding his coattails in pushing for a “public option” government-insurance plan to be sold alongside private insurance. He argued that Warren, meanwhile, is out of step with the Democratic Party and the general electorate with her call for a single-payer “Medicare for All” system that would supplant the private insurance market altogether. (12/3)

Former Vice President Joe Biden downplayed enthusiasm for "Medicare for All" within the Democratic Party on Thursday, saying the majority of the party was not behind the policy idea. "I don’t think the bulk of the enthusiasm in the Democratic Party is for Medicare for All," Biden said in Iowa, according to NBC News. (Manchester, 12/3)

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday responded to fellow Democratic White House contender Joe Biden’s allegations that he “stole” the former vice president’s health care proposal. “Well, first of all, I’ve been talking about ‘Medicare for all who want it’ since at least February, and also the plans are not exactly the same,” Buttigieg told CNN. (Campisi, 12/3)

A former health insurance executive offered praise on Tuesday for “Medicare for All” plans put forth by Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Wendall Potter, who spent 20 years in the health insurance industry, told Hill.TV that both policy ideas would create much needed structural changes to the health care system. (12/3)

A powerful House committee announced on Tuesday that it will hold a hearing next week on Medicare for All, as well as several other proposals to expand health coverage, in a boost for backers of the progressive policy priority. The House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee will hold a hearing next Tuesday on the Medicare for All bill introduced by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), along with six other bills, including scaled-back, “public option” proposals. (Sullivan, 12/3)

Michael Bennet is predicating his improbable presidential campaign on the issue of health care — more specifically, the need for a public insurance option and not a “Medicare for All” system. ... His moderate voice struggled to register in a campaign dominated by far-reaching policy ideas, but now as the first early-state caucus approaches, Bennet believes his message is starting to take hold. The problem: So far his big ideal is not translating into more support for his campaign. (Frank, 12/3)