Bernie-Backed Candidate Faces Criticism Over Medicare For All 'Rewrite'

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A high-profile Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, is facing criticism from within his own party over accusations that he is softening his stance on eliminating private insurance as part of his Medicare for All platform. El-Sayed, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, has previously marketed himself as a purist on single-payer health care, but his recent comments suggesting employer and union plans could remain under a Medicare for All framework have opened him up to accusations of political opportunism from more moderate Democrats.

Why it matters

The tension highlights a growing divide within the Democratic Party between supporters of full-scale socialized medicine and those who favor more incremental, market-aware reforms. El-Sayed's rhetoric shift raises questions about the extent to which the most ardent advocates of single-payer health care are willing to be transparent about the real-world consequences of their proposals, which could significantly limit private choice.

The details

El-Sayed has long presented Medicare for All as the only morally acceptable path to universal coverage and has railed against the private insurance industry as a corrupting middleman. However, his recent comments suggesting that employer and union plans could remain under a Medicare for All framework have opened him up to accusations of political opportunism from Democrats who still favor a more incremental "public option" approach. El-Sayed's campaign insists there has been no shift in his position, but his own written record and past public comments paint a more explicit picture of the need to marginalize private insurance under a single-payer system.

• In 2021, El-Sayed co-authored a book describing Medicare for All as a "monopsony" in health care that would sideline private payers.
• In November 2021, El-Sayed elaborated that this monopsony "would instantaneously create a disciplining feature against rising prices" by "tak[ing] out the profit motive on the payer end of the transaction".
• In 2022, El-Sayed personally testified in favor of the federal Medicare for All Act, which would effectively outlaw most comprehensive private insurance plans.
• By 2024, El-Sayed was even more blunt about his disdain for private insurers, declaring on his podcast that "we don't really need private health insurance in this country".
• In early 2024, El-Sayed's language began to shift, suggesting that under Medicare for All, "if you like your insurance from your employer or from your union, that can still be there for you."

What they’re saying

What’s next

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