Insurance took the center stage of ongoing debate between the Democratic presidential candidates Sunday.
At a rally in the Las Vegas suburbs, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told supporters that, if elected, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders would replace their insurance plans with something more expensive.
“We both share the goal of universal healthcare coverage, but he wants to start all over again,” Clinton said. “And he wants to have a new system that would be quite challenging because you would have to give up the insurance you have now, and it would cost a lot of money.
“The goal is a good goal – I absolutely agree with that – but the last thing our country needs now is to be thrown into another contentious debate about healthcare.”
The comments come over a month after Sanders unveiled his plan for a single-payer healthcare system that would put carriers and agents out of business. Explained in a white paper published on his campaign website, Sanders’ plan is said to increase federal spending by at least 55%, but save the country money over a period of time.
“No more fighting with insurance companies when they fail to pay for charges,” Sanders said in announcing his plan for a comprehensive health product.
Continued health reform has been a major topic in the Democratic primary season, and Sanders and Clinton have sparred over the best way to approach it.
Clinton – who advocates incremental changes to the Affordable Care Act – has characterized Sanders of wanting to start an “impossible” new venture that would punish some subscribers and leave coverage decisions up to Republican governors.
“Based on every analysis that I can find by people who are sympathetic to the goal, the numbers don’t add up, and many people will actually be worse off than they are right now,” she said during a debate last week in Milwaukee.
Insurance professionals would certainly have more job security under Clinton’s vision, which sees incremental change instead of the complete overhaul Sanders has planned.
If elected, she pledges to advocate a $250 per month cap on out-of-pocket drug expenses – a provision that would have to be offered by health insurers. She also promises to more strongly scrutinize health insurance mergers such as those between Anthem and Cigna, and Humana and Aetna.
