Biden’s ‘Incremental’ Health Plan Still Would Be A Heavy Lift

The headlines about presidential candidate Joe Bidens new health care plan called it a nod to the past and Affordable Care Act 2.0. That mostly refers to the fact that the former vice president has specifically repudiated many of his Democratic rivals calls for a Medicare for All system and instead sought to build his plan on the ACAs framework. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of Biden’s opponents in the primary race and the key proponent of the Medicare for All option, has criticized Biden’s proposal, complaining that it is just “tinkering around the edges” of a broken health care system. Still, the proposal put forward by Biden last week is much more ambitious than Obamacare — and, despite its incremental label, would make some very controversial changes. “I would call it radically incremental,” said Chris Jennings, a political health strategist who worked for Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and who has consulted with several of the current Democratic candidates. Republicans who object to other candidates’ Medicare for All plans find Biden’s alternative just as displeasing.