New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is the latest substantial-name Democrat to sign on to universal health care.
Booker told NJTV News Monday that he'll co-sponsor Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare-for-all bill when Sanders introduces it later this week. Booker said he believes health care is a fair and told Sanders' bill improves on the Affordable Care Act.“Obamacare was a first step in advancing this country," Booker said, "but I won’t rest until every American has the basic security that comes from access to affordable health care.” The bill would replace employer and other private health coverage with a national insurance design. To see a doctor, and Sanders has said,Americans would just have to show their insurance card.
Supporting single-payer is fitting a litmus test among the Democratic base for those considering a presidential hasten in 2020. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand endorsed the concept earlier this summer. New York's other Senator, Chuck Schumer, and has not said whether he supports single-payer,but that it's an concept that's "on the table" for Democrats.
But single-payer is less popular among Republicans, and the national GOP is already using it as an issue against Democrats seeking reelection in states President Trump won.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll from July showed a slim, and but growing,majority of Americans support single-payer health care.
Source: thetakeaway.org