Harris was an early supporter of Sanders's Medicare for All proposal before defining her own more-moderate proposal. (Photo: Anthony Lanzilote/Bloomberg)
Health care reform was a major campaign point in the early days of the crowded Democratic presidential race, ranging from Sen. Bernie Sanders's signature Medicare for All proposal to Joe Biden's moderate ACA reform stance. And now that Joe Biden has announced California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, the question remains: how will her stance on health care reform change?
Harris was an early supporter of Sanders's Medicare for All proposal before defining her own more-moderate proposal, which would include privately run Medicare plans and a public option. Early in debates, she caught heat for appearing to suggest that she supported abolishing private health insurance completely, though she later backtracked, saying that she had misunderstood the question.
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"I am supportive of Medicare for All, and under Medicare for All policy, private insurance would certainly exist for supplemental coverage," she said in a follow-up interview.
As noted by Modern Healthcare, her policy position was met with criticism from both progressives and moderates, as well as "dark-money spending group" the Partnership for America's Health Care Future, a coalition of hospitals, insurers and pharmacy groups.
Harris has also spoken out on public health issues, calling for increased access to care for undocumented immigrants, as well as addressing the maternal mortality crisis in the United States, which currently results in Black women dying from pregnancy complications at a rate three times higher than white women. In addition, she would allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drugmakers to ensure Americans aren't paying more than other countries.
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Emily Payne
Emily Payne is director, content analytics for ALM's Business & Finance Markets and former managing editor for BenefitsPRO. A Wisconsin native, she has spent the past decade writing and editing for various athletic and fitness publications. She holds an English degree and Business certificate from the University of Wisconsin.
