Bennet: Warren ‘not being honest about’ her ‘Medicare for All’ plan

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), a long-shot White House hopeful, called out one of the 2020 Democratic primary’s leading candidates, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), accusing her of trying to dodge unpleasant facts about her “Medicare for All” health care plan.

“I think she’s not being honest about her plan, and I think her plan — which costs $33 trillion — is the equivalent of 70 percent of all the taxes that the federal government will collect over the next 10 years,” Bennet said Monday on CNN. 

“I mean it is a massive increase in taxes to this country and it hasn’t been explained to the American people. It’s a sound bite,” he added.

“I think her plan, which costs $33 trillion, is the equivalent of 70% of all the taxes that the federal government will collect over the next 10 years,” @SenatorBennet says on Warren’s healthcare proposals. “It hasn’t been explained… it’s a sound bite.” https://t.co/anoQmOX8ao pic.twitter.com/ObN8HSh2ha

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) October 21, 2019

Bennet accused Warren of “lying” about her Medicare for All proposal by not detailing how she will finance it. 

The plan for universal health care was originally backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another primary candidate, who authored the bill in the Senate. Sanders has said that taxes will go up for middle-class Americans, but that overall costs will go down as Americans won’t be paying for out-of-pocket medical costs under the single-payer system.{mosads}

Warren has not said if middle-class taxes will go up. 

“I’ve been saying that for months, that everybody except Bernie is lying about Bernie’s plan,” Bennet said. 

Warren was criticized over the same accusation of evading an answer on how she’ll finance the plan during last week’s debate in Ohio. Bennet was not on the debate stage. He did not meet the Democratic National Committee threshold to qualify for the last two debates. 

Warren said Sunday at a campaign rally in Iowa that she will be releasing her plan, including how it would be financed, in a few weeks.

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg hit Warren over her lack of a plan during the debate. 

Buttigieg entered the race as a supporter of Medicare for All, but has since walked back his support and switched to his so-called Medicare for all who want it option.

Other Senate Democrats now seeking the party nomination, including Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Cory Booker (N.J.), backed Sanders’s bill in the Senate, but have since softened their rhetoric on the single-payer plan.