U.S. House Democrats unveiled their proposal for providing all Americans with health coverage through Medicare, with Lehigh Valley Congresswoman Susan Wild among the proposal’s 107 co-sponsors.
Wild, a freshman Democrat, said during a town hall earlier this month that she would be signing on to the upcoming measure, which was introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.
Jayapal’s bill would create a single-payer, government-funded health care system within two years. The plan would cover primary care, as well as hospital care, prescription drugs, dental, vision, and long-term care for those with disabilities. Patients would not be charged co-pays or other out-of-pocket costs.
The proposal does not include details on how to pay for the program’s price tag, which one analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget pegged at between $28 trillion and $32 trillion.
Wild said at this month’s town hall that while she’s signing on to the Medicare for All bill, she sees it facing a steep legislative climb in the current Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not endorsed the new proposal, and questioned how the concept would be paid for during a recent interview with Rolling Stone.
Even if the bill clears the House, it would stall in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Wild says she will be supporting other health care proposals that she believes may be able to reduce costs and increase access to coverage in the short term, mentioning ideas like offering those over age 50 to buy into Medicare or creating a public option plan. Focusing exclusively on Medicare for All legislation would be “short-sighted,” she said.
“We have to be very pragmatic and think about what could get through right now,” Wild said.
Wild is also a member of the New Democrat Coalition, a caucus of centrist House Democrats. The group’s task force on health care weren’t among those rallying behind the Medicare for All bill, instead calling for improving the Affordable Care Act and stabilizing insurance marketplaces.
