�Թϲ�����

As presidential hopefuls campaign on a national “Medicare for all” system, a California congressman is pushing for a different path to universal coverage: letting the states go first. Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative, will introduce legislation Friday that lets states bundle all their health care spending — including Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act dollars and more — to fund a state-level single-payer system. The policy could create something akin to Medicaid for all. It would be 50 separate programs, jointly funded by the state and the federal government, with local officials making decisions about whom to cover, how much to pay doctors, and what benefits to cover. (Kliff, 11/8)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's plan to pay for "Medicare for All" without raising taxes on the middle class departs from how the U.S. has traditionally financed bedrock social insurance programs. That might impact its political viability now and in the future. While echoing her party's longstanding call for universal health care, the Massachusetts Democrat is proposing to raise most of the additional $20.5 trillion her campaign believes would be needed from taxes on businesses, wealthy people and investors. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/7)

The field of 2020 presidential candidates with health care overhaul plans is crowded, and Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind., is drawing lines of distinction between his and his competitors' proposals. "I mean, the reality is, all these beautiful proposals we all put forward, their impact is kind of multiplied by zero if you can't actually get it through Congress, and it's one of the reasons why I do favor the approach that I have," he said. (Simon and Glenn, 11/8)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) said Thursday that she thinks her health care plan is “superior” to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) “Medicare for All” plan. During an interview on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe," Harris said she doesn’t need to point out any of the inconsistencies in Warren’s Medicare for All funding plan because her own health care plan is better anyway. (Weixel, 11/07)

Hillary Clinton said Wednesday she hoped for a return to “boring, normal times” after the 2020 election, voicing skepticism of her party’s populist wing and predicting that Senator Elizabeth Warren’s proposal for single-payer health care would never get enacted. At The New York Times DealBook conference in New York, Mrs. Clinton said she saw two of the biggest policies embraced by the left in the 2020 Democratic primary — “Medicare for all”-style health care and a tax on the assets of the very wealthy — as unworkable or politically impractical. She said Democrats should pursue the goal of universal health coverage, but through other means. (Burns, 11/7)

“I believe the smarter approach is to build on what we have. A public option is something I've been in favor of for a very long time,” Clinton said. “I don't believe we should be in the midst of a big disruption while we are trying to get to 100 percent coverage and deal with costs.” Amid the raging health care debate among the Democratic presidential candidates, Clinton, the party’s 2016 nominee, appears to line up more with former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who are pushing for an optional government insurance plan, rather than Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who are pushing government insurance for all. (Sullivan, 11/07)

Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Elections Matter

Big Democratic wins in the 2019 off-year elections could spell big changes for Medicaid and other health policies in Virginia and Kentucky. Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s new “Medicare For All” plan is getting hammered from all parts of the political spectrum, including most of her opponents for the Democratic presidential nomination. (11/7)