Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Sanders' 'Medicare For All' Becomes Albatross Ahead Of Nevada Caucuses In Face Of Union Opposition For Policy
Senator Bernie Sanders is a longtime supporter of 鈥淢edicare for all.鈥 鈥淚 wrote the damn bill,鈥 he said on a debate stage last summer, and his support for universal health care has helped propel him to the front of the 2020 Democratic field. But in Nevada, where the race heads next, his signature policy is a liability with the largest labor union in the state. And the union has enthusiastic allies in Mr. Sanders鈥檚 opponents. On Friday morning, moments after Senator Amy Klobuchar finished a tour of the health care facility run by the culinary workers鈥 union, she began to lace into Mr. Sanders and his focus on the proposal, which would effectively eliminate union members鈥 current health care system. (Medina and Martin, 2/16)
Joe Biden, standing on a Las Vegas stage roughly 1,000 feet from the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, took on White House rival Bernie Sanders for his past vote to exempt gun manufacturers from liability for shootings. The former vice president devoted the majority of his Saturday night speech at a Democratic gala on the Las Vegas Strip to deliver a fiery charge against the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers, vowing to hold gun makers accountable if elected president. (Price and Peoples, 2/15)
Mr. Buttigieg, a 38-year-old military veteran, has sought to present himself as a candidate who could bring together the disparate factions within the party and present a striking alternative to President Trump. He has tussled with Mr. Sanders on a central issue of the campaign: Medicare for All, in which the party鈥檚 left wants to move everyone from private insurance to government-provided health coverage, while centrists call for a more gradual shift. 鈥淎 campaign message that says that you鈥檝e either got to be for the revolution or you must be for the status quo, most of us don鈥檛 know where we fit in that picture,鈥 Mr. Buttigieg said in Reno on Monday. 鈥淚鈥檓 here to draw a bigger picture, one where all of us can belong.鈥 (Thomas, 2/17)
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took aim at Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Saturday, calling on him to condemn the 鈥渧icious, malicious, misogynistic鈥 rhetoric of some Sanders supporters and to do more to stamp it out. The remarks came at a key time for both campaigns, as Mr. Biden tries to regain his footing after weak showings in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary 鈥 in which Mr. Sanders surged toward the front of the Democratic pack 鈥 and a week before next Saturday鈥檚 Nevada caucuses. (Kaplan, Ruiz and Gabriel, 2/15)
In other election news 鈥
House Democrats, recovering from their failed push to remove President Trump from office, are making a sharp pivot to talking about health care and economic issues, turning away from their investigations of the president as they focus on preserving their majority. Top Democrats say that oversight of the president will continue, and they plan in particular to press Attorney General William P. Barr over what they say are Mr. Trump鈥檚 efforts to compromise the independence of the Justice Department. But for now, at least, they have shelved the idea of subpoenaing Mr. Trump鈥檚 former national security adviser, who was a central figure in the president鈥檚 impeachment trial. (Stolberg, 2/16)