Democratic strategist Kristen Hawn criticized efforts by some members of her party to ditch the Affordable Care Act in favor of a national government-run health care system known as “Medicare for All.”
Hawn on Tuesday pointed to remarks made by President Obama’s former budget chief Peter Orszag, who compared Democratic proposals for government-run health programs to Republicans bids to repeal and replace Obamacare.
She emphasized that Democrats will similarly make lofty promises that they will not be able to achieve.
“As somebody who was on the hill and worked intimately on the Affordable Care Act, I just saw how hard that was to do,” Hawn, a senior advisor at Rokk Solutions, said during an appearance on “Rising.”
“This is something that is very, very difficult to do and I think it’s very short-sighted for a lot of people to just say, ‘let’s throw out the ACA,’ ” she continued.
The Democratic strategist added that she is “100 percent” behind former Vice President Joe Biden’s plan to build on Obamacare instead of opting for a Medicare for All proposal.
Medicare for All has become a divisive issue among Democrats heading into the 2020 elections.
While a number of his fellow Democratic contenders expressed support for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) Medicare for All proposal, Biden took the debate stage last week defending the Affordable Care Act passed under the Obama administration.
“The fact of the matter is that the quickest, fastest way to do it is build on Obamacare, to build on what we did,” Biden said during last week’s debate.
He also made it clear that his plan would allow everyone to choose between either buying private insurance or to “buy into the exchange to a Medicare-like plan.”
Others, including Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D), have taken a similar stance, emphasizing the importance of having a choice between public and private plans.
“I feel very strongly that families ought to be able to have this choice,” Bennet said on the debate stage. “I think that is what the American people want.”
—Tess Bonn
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