Big news on the health care policy front: Democrats appear to be converging on an actual agenda if they win in 2020.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced new legislation on Wednesday that policy guru Charles Gaba calls “ACA 2.0.” The Huffington Post’s Daniel Marans has details here.
This is, as Gaba describes it, more than just patching up Obamacare to make up for the damage done by Congress, states and design flaws in the original bill. It’s an upgraded version of the Affordable Care Act. At the same time, it’s nowhere close to the various single-payer or “Medicare for all” proposals that liberals have been spending a lot of time talking about over the last two years.
(Related: Trump NHS Tweet Angers Brits Fearing U.S.-Style Health Care)
What’s interesting is that Warren is the senator carrying this bill, and its co-sponsors include Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand. This vehicle has total buy-in from the senators most likely to run on the more liberal side of the Democratic Party in the 2020 presidential nomination contest. There’s also, by the way, a fairly similar House companion bill that was introduced recently.