Former health insurance executive Wendell Potter on Wednesday criticized White House hopeful Andrew Yang’s newly released health care plan.
Yang released a health care plan this week that focuses on lowering the cost of drug prices and expanding coverage. Potter said that while the plan does have some merits, he argued that it is “far too limited.”
“The structure of the system is what needs to be changed,” Potter told Hill.TV. “It’s not just tinkering around the edges, which is exactly what Yang’s plan seems to do.”
In response to Potter’s comments, Yang campaign national press secretary S.Y. Lee said that Yang’s multi-step plan is “is laser focused on expanding comprehensive care to include all aspects of wellbeing, including mental health and care for people with disabilities.” She also noted that the plan would not outright ban private insurance, and aims to drastically reduce insurance costs.
“By having a more productive conversation about healthcare and tackling the root problems of costs and access, without pulling the rug from under those who have private insurance, Andrew Yang’s plan provides a new way forward on healthcare for all Americans,” Lee said in a statement.
Potter, who spent 20 years in the health care industry, has previously voiced support for “Medicare for All” plans touted by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Both top-tier candidates have introduced plans calling for eliminating private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan.
“You’ve got to have someone in the White House who is really bold and will recognize what we need to do and lead the nation — not just follow the polls and say, ‘He’s what I think we might be able to pull off,’ ” Potter said. “That’s just not leadership in my view.”
Yang’s six-part proposal, released on Monday, was created in the “spirit of Medicare for All” and has some elements of the progressive proposal. However, it doesn’t contain a public option plan that has been proposed by moderate candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
“To be clear, I support the spirit of Medicare for All,” Yang said in the outline of his plan. “Swiftly reformatting 18% of our economy and eliminating private insurance for millions of Americans is not a realistic strategy, so we need to provide a new way forward on healthcare for all Americans.”
The businessman also ripped the the intra-party fighting over “Medicare for All,” saying Democrats “should be focusing on the biggest problems that are driving up costs and taking lives.”
Yang has introduced two other health care plans. One is focused on expanding mental health coverage and the other is geared towards addressing health care for children and adults with disabilities.
Yang, an entrepreneur whose son is autistic, has been a vocal advocate for those with disabilities, though he has been criticized by some activists for use his of the term “special needs” rather than “disabled.”
—Tess Bonn
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