Elizabeth Warren emphasizes 'choice' on health care in a rhetorical shift

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been using new, notable language at her town halls to describe the transition into "Medicare for All" -- saying, under her plan, it would be a voter's "choice" to opt in.

While the language is already a part of her transition proposal, it's a notable rhetorical shift on Warren's part after her moderate Democratic rivals -- namely South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg -- have criticized her plan that would eventually eliminate private health insurance.

For the last two weeks, Warren has described the transition into her Medicare For All plan as a "choice" for Americans to try it. A new Fox News Poll released Sunday showed that support for government-run healthcare has dropped by double-digits among Democrats since October.

At her town halls, Warren frequently fields questions from voters who tell her they've heard worries from friends or family about giving up their current private insurance.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/elizabeth-warren-emphasizes-choice-on-health-care-in-a-rhetorical-shift/ar-BBY3ysC

[highplainsdem]

1. Too late.

[Fiendish Thingy]

4. Was it too late for Obama in 2007?

Obama was behind Hillary by 20 points in December 2007...and we know how that ended...

Inevitability narratives rarely end well.

[highplainsdem]

5. I'm not talking about the primary race overall. But it's too late for Warren to distance herself

from MFA, and that has hurt her. She tied herself too closely to it, trying to pick up support that would otherwise have gone to Sanders, and now she's alienating some of those progressives by backing away from MFA, and she isn't gaining moderate support.

Kamala Harris got a lot of criticism for "waffling" on what she said about health care, months ago. Warren has more fans in the media so she probably won't get as much criticism there, but voters notice.

Warren's looking more desperate with every shift.

[Blue_true]

7. I agree with your synopsis that she should have avoided embracing MFA

to woo Bernie supporters. She set herself up for major problems and they came after her. Instead of attacking Bernie on MFA, Warren's opponents went after her, leaving Bernie unscathed.

[Hoyt]

2. Good, but likely too late. Her quotes on "Mandated MFA (no choice)" are already cued up for GE.

[OilemFirchen]

3. She should call it "Medicare for All Who Want It".

Be all creative and shit.

[Blue_true]

6. I am still stunned about how she allowed herself to be backed into a corner

by wholesale embracing Bernie's poorly throughout plan in debates and on the campaign trail. At least it looks like her fall in the polls has stopped and her support is stable and inching back up.

[helpisontheway]

8. Too late to gain my support..She embraces MFA with no choice

I’m supposed to believe she woke up and decided that she believes in choice? If she says that then I don’t trust her. It is a shame because I do like her. However, her stance on MFA is a dealbreaker for me..

[mvd]

9. If that poll is even accurate, there's been a big

anti-MFA propaganda campaign which could be causing the shift. The best way to respond is to tout the benefits (lower costs after an initial investment, not worrying about co-pays and high prescription drug costs, and not worrying if a needed procedure would be too expensive). Those are all things that resonate with people. Warren may be right that the best way to get to MFA is to go in stages. Just so we get to it.

[Humanist_Activist]

10. Never understood this mythical "choice" canard, and I'm saddened she has to resort to it...

herself.

I've only had employer provided plans, some sucked(weren't affordable to use), some sucked less(barely affordable to use), and the choices some offered were just useless for my income level(FSAs, HSAs, etc.) But I never had a choice outside of opting out of the FSA and HSA plans recently. Hell my previous job had two plans on offer, one that had BJC(the largest local health care provider) in network and one, for 30 dollars less a month that had them out of network. Some choice there.

The problem is framing, we don't need a bunch of different plans for you to find one that's just "right for you", that's dumb, every healthcare insurance plan should cover EVERY medically necessary treatment for all known and unknown diseases, conditions, injuries, etc. at something that is affordable for you to seek treatment for at your income level at any suitable medical facility or office that is accepting appointments, period.

[ecstatic]

11. I fear it's too late, unfortunately. The turning point for her campaign was the

debate on October 15. In the debate (and in the post-debate interviews), she quadrupled down on Medicare for All instead of doing the pivot that many of her new supporters were hoping for. Her numbers began to plummet after that because shit got real for many of her supporters who were seeing her poll numbers skyrocket but weren't fully comfortable with MFA. I made a post about it that night.

Just my opinion, of course.

[The Valley Below]

13. I agree.

I firmly believe that if Warren had said in that debate that she was absolutely committed to the end goal of universal heath care, but that she accepted that there are many paths forward that she'd be in a real battle for the nomination.

She could have pulled off being idealistic & visionary, while coming off as pragmatic. That actually matches her record.

But she went all in for Bernie's plan. That spooked liberals. And when she retreated in the face of crashing support, it alienated the left.

She lost on both sides.

In what had been a nearly flawless campaign this was a blunder. One that was totally self-inflicted.

[VarryOn]

12. A day late and trillions of dollars late...nt