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Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., has recently emerged as a leader in some Iowa polls, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont appears re-energized by the endorsement of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. But the two candidates at center stage remain the same: former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Together, these four have separated themselves from the 2020 pack. The debate stage has shrunk since the October clash, with former Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas quitting the race and the former federal housing secretary Julián Castro failing to qualify. (Goldmacher and Ramic, 11/20)

Perhaps no issue has divided the field of Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls more than the debate over "Medicare for All." Progressive candidates favor the sweeping proposal, which would replace private health insurance with a single government-run plan. More moderate candidates have embraced less drastic measures they say would achieve universal healthcare coverage while allowing individuals to choose their plan. (11/19)

No single issue has dominated the initial Democratic primary debates more than health care, and it’s safe to assume that will be the case again Wednesday night. And no one has more riding on that specific debate than Warren, who hurt herself last month by stumbling through questions about the cost of her single-payer health care plan. Given that policy specifics make up the backbone of her candidacy, she can’t afford another underwhelming performance on the defining policy debate of the primary season. (Peoples, 11/20)

Once again, former President Barack Obama is looming over the debate -- not only his health care policy and immigration record, as during previous gatherings, but now his gentle scolding for the 2020 Democratic field. The former president recently injected himself into the race in the biggest way yet, offering no implicit endorsement, but delivering a stern admonition at the campaign's direction. By imploring candidates to offer plans "rooted in reality" to avoid turning off key swaths of the electorate, Obama was trying to nudge the conversation toward the middle. (Bradner, Krieg, Merica and Zeleny, 11/20)

Over six nights of debates since June, the Democratic presidential candidates have spent a lot of time talking — 659 minutes in total, or nearly 11 hours. They’ve spent the most time discussing health care, which has become a proxy for the fight between the liberal and moderate wings of the party. Other topics, like climate change and reproductive rights, have received less attention, drawing some complaints. (11/20)

When Bryan Keith was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years ago, he underwent a blizzard of tests, specialist consultations, a month of radiation treatment and a surgical procedure. His out-of-pocket costs? Zero. “I’ve never had to reach into my wallet for anything other than my health-care card,” said Keith, 71, who is now in remission. In this picturesque mountain town of about 10,000 people, Keith’s experience is the norm — and the model often cited by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as they promote Medicare-for-all as an antidote to some of the problems afflicting U.S. health-care consumers. (Abutaleb, 11/19)

A majority of Iowans who will likely attend the state’s 2020 Democratic caucuses want a health care option other than “Medicare for All,” a new poll finds. More than a third of Democratic respondents in a CNN-Des Moines Register-Mediacom poll — 36 percent — support Medicare for All, but nearly as many others — 34 percent — want a public option to buy into, CNN reports. (Campisi, 11/19)

Atrio of senators — including presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — wants more scrutiny of for-profit institutional review boards, which decide whether to green-light clinical trials. In letters sent this week to the U.S.’s two largest commercial IRBs — WCG Clinical, better known as WIRB-Copernicus Group, and Advarra — the senators wrote that such boards “can be inherently vulnerable to conflicts of interest that could inhibit their ability to protect research subjects.” (Robbins, 11/19)