Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) in 2017 touted a health care reform that shared many of the same “features” as Medicare for All.
Casey in June 2017 held A town hall meeting at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. During the meeting, a voter asked the Pennsylvania Democrat if he supports “Medicare for All.”
“Of course I'm in favor of it. I haven't seen the bill yet, but Bernie Sanders is working on it,” Casey replied.
The Pennsylvania Democrat stoked fears about Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, saying it could be the worst thing to happen to health care “in decades.”
He also said that if Republicans fail to repeal and replace Obamacare, Congress could move toward more progressive reforms, such as a “public option” that would specifically target areas with only one health insurer.
A public option is a government-sponsored or -run health insurance plan. Compete Private health insurance option included.
“We should have a Medicare-like public option now, which would create competition and have many of the same characteristics as a Medicare for All bill,” Casey explained.
Casey stressed that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)'s “Medicare for All” bill “would further” Democrats' goal of providing health insurance to more Americans.
Casey's positive stance on Medicare for All and his promotion of health reform, including many of its “features,” stands in stark contrast to Tuesday's presidential debate, where Vice President Kamala Harris said only that she would preserve and protect Obamacare, not a public option or Medicare for All. Harris supported Medicare for All in 2017.
Health experts have warned that Casey's recommended public option serves as a “Trojan horse” that “hides inside” a single-payer health care system.
“The public option is a Trojan horse for a single-payer system. [healthcare system] “There are things hidden under the hood,” Seema Verma, then-Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said in a 2019 speech.
“It would use government pricing power to shut private insurers out of the market altogether, achieving the true policy goal of a government-run, single-payer health care system,” she continued. Verma said a public option would reduce patients' access to health care services.
NBC News' Jonathan Allen wrote in 2019: said The public option essentially serves as a “back door” to single-payer health care.
“Joe Biden is a very strong candidate for the presidency,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in a 2019 interview with Breitbart News. [public option] This plan is basically setting up a government insurance company so that people don't have to follow the same rules, and it's just a way to get everyone on board with the government plan.”
“Biden's plan would create rules that would prevent other insurance companies from competing, eliminate private insurance, and drive up costs. [up]”Taxpayers will be paying for this,” Scott added.
“If we go down the same path as Joe Biden wants with this plan, the government starts taking over, which means we can't pay for it,” Scott said. “We can't pay for it the way we are right now.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X Sean Moran 3.
