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Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York unveiled a health policy proposal on Thursday that would create a government-run health insurance plan but not provide universal guaranteed coverage, aligning himself with the more moderate wing of the Democratic Party in the 2020 presidential primary. The plan, which he announced at a campaign event in Memphis, is among Mr. Bloomberg’s first policy rollouts. (Kliff, 12/19)

“It's in the Biden-Buttigieg world rather than Sanders-Warren,” said John Holahan, a health policy expert with the nonpartisan Urban Institute think tank. Holahan reviewed an outline of the plan provided by the Bloomberg campaign. On health care, leading 2020 Democrats are divided between the step-by-step strategy favored by moderates like former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and the “Medicare for All” plan envisioned by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and seconded by progressives wanting a single, government-run system for all Americans. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has that as her ultimate goal. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/19)

Bloomberg also would seek to cap out-of-network medical charges at 200% of Medicare rates, and work to ensure the government could negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, capping prices at 120% of "the average in other advanced nations." A senior policy advisor for Bloomberg told reporters that it would cost about $1.5 trillion over 10 years to create a public insurance option and expand income-based subsidies for people beyond those created by the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. (12/19)

Bloomberg’s plan also takes aim at politically powerful health care providers, calling for an end to "surprise" medical bills by requiring hospitals to provide care to insured patients at their in-network rates, regardless of which doctors see them. He’d also limit what health care providers could charge insurers, pegging their out-of-network prices to just twice the typically lower rates that Medicare pays. Bloomberg also would boost resources devoted to rural health care by increasing federal grants to community health centers and requiring Medicare cover more telehealth visits, among other measures. (Diamond, 12/19)

Bloomberg’s plan was officially unveiled during a speech in Memphis, the same day the leading Democratic candidates were in Los Angeles for a debate. The proposal's rollout also comes amid a renewed threat to the future of ObamaCare. A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled the law’s individual mandate was unconstitutional and sent the case back to a district court judge who previously declared the entire law unconstitutional. (Weixel, 12/19)