Franken backs Sanders’s ‘Medicare for all’ bill

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said Tuesday he would support Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) “Medicare for all” bill, the latest Democrat to back the proposal.

“Like Paul Wellstone I’ve always believe that health care is a right for all Americans — not a privilege — and that every person in our country deserves access to the care they need,” Franken said in a statement posted on Facebook.

While Franken called the bill an “important marker,” he hedged his hopes for the measure passing, calling it “aspirational” and saying he was “hopeful that it can serve as a starting point for where we need to go as a country.”

{mosads}“In the short term, however, I strongly believe we must pursue bipartisan policies that improve our current health care system for all Americans — and that’s exactly what we’re doing right now in the Senate Health Committee, on which both Senator Sanders and I sit.”

Franken is the 10th Democratic senator to throw their support behind the single-payer healthcare bill, according to a tally by The Hill. The proposal is quickly becoming a litmus test for top Democrats in the party.