Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee’s Health Care Subcommittee, said that Senate Democrats will focus on rebuilding and strengthening Obamacare and add a “public option” to the law if they take back the majority in the Senate.
Stabenow and Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin warned Democratic voters that another conservative justice on the Supreme Court would imperil the future of Obamacare since the California v. Texas case will be decided shortly after the November election takes place.
Stabenow, who opposes a GOP effort to fill the Supreme Court vacancy before the November election, declined to say if she supports expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court.
“As the person, if we’re in the majority, who would be chairing the Health Subcommittee of Finance, I will tell you that, certainly a priority along with getting our arms around COVID-19 and the national strategy on COVID-19, we want to rebuild and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, and then move forward with the other initiatives like adding a public option under Medicare and all the other things that will strengthen health care,” Stabenow said on a conference call Wednesday with Baldwin, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.
“So we certainly are going to do everything we can to rebuild and strengthen health care for people if we are fortunate enough to be in the majority,” she added.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden supports a federally-run public option and opposes the “Medicare-for-all” plan that was a centerpiece of rival Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 primary campaign. In 2010, former President Barack Obama and Biden, the former vice president, were not able to push the Affordable Care Act through the Democrat-led House and Senate with a public option that would compete with private insurance plans…
Continue Reading