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Ocasio-Cortez: Nobody Is 'Heartbroken' by the Prospect of Losing Private Health Insurance

Survey: 58 percent oppose Medicare for All if told it would eliminate private insurance

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez / Getty Images
July 17, 2019

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) said on Wednesday nobody is "heartbroken" by the prospect of losing their private health insurance if Medicare for All were to be implemented.

Her comments were first reported by Bloomberg's Sahil Kapur.

", asked about warnings from Joe Biden on Medicare for All, says nobody is 'heartbroken' at the idea of losing private insurance. 'People like their health care, they like their doctor,' she says. 'But I’d be interested in what the public polling on Aetna would look like,'" Kapur tweeted.

Earlier this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) estimated his Medicare for All proposal would cost up to $40 trillion over 10 years. Sanders has also said he would raise taxes, including for the middle class, to pay for Medicare for All, and that "there will be pain" in a transition to a single-payer system.

Former Vice President Joe Biden's healthcare plan, released on Monday, does not go as far as Medicare for All. His proposal includes a public option to buy into a Medicare-like plan and wouldn't eliminate private health insurance.

"Starting over makes no sense to me at all," Biden said when announcing the plan. "I knew the Republicans would do everything in their power to repeal Obamacare. They still are. But I'm surprised that so many Democrats are running on getting rid of it."

The Kaiser Family Foundation found that Americans' view of the single-payer plan "can shift significantly after hearing information." Fifty-six percent of those surveyed support "Medicare for All," while 42 percent oppose it.

Fifty-eight percent oppose the plan, however, if told it would eliminate private health insurance plans, and 60 percent oppose it if it requires higher taxes. 70 percent of those surveyed expressed opposition to "Medicare for All" if it would lead to delays in getting some tests or treatments.