The MinnPost item sketches a picture:
WASHINGTON – Jake Johnson, a Democrat seeking to represent southern Minnesota in Congress, gingerly sidestepped a question at a town hall he hosted about whether he supported “Medicare for All.”
Johnson, a moderate who is trying to unseat Rep. Brad Finstad, R-1st District, said at that event in New Richland that he sympathized with those who are struggling to afford health insurance and pay for medical costs. He said he supported “a strong public option to the health insurers we have now.”
That meant Johnson would support allowing Americans to purchase a healthcare plan offered by the federal government that would compete with private insurers.
But that proposal — aimed at countering the increasing cost of health insurance coverage that is driving up the number of uninsured — has been rejected by Democratic socialists and progressives who have notched impressive victories in primaries this year and made their mark in Minnesota through the DFL endorsement process.
From 2019: At Houston debate, Klobuchar opposes Medicare-for-All plans
They pan the “public option” and other reforms proposed by Johnson and other party centrists as ineffective solutions that would continue to allow insurers and pharmaceuticals to unfairly profit from pain and illness.
So, the debate over healthcare in this election year has caused a fissure in the Democratic Party in Minnesota and across the nation.
[...] Sometimes a Democratic candidate’s position on healthcare reform is based, at least in part, on how well the party has done in their district.
The 1st Congressional District Johnson seeks to represent gave President Donald Trump 55% of the vote in 2025.
But in the neighboring 2nd Congressional District, former Vice President Kamala Harris won with 52% of the vote, and, unlike Johnson, the endorsed DFL candidate, Matt Little, is a vigorous proponent of Medicare for All.
[...] Little said if he wins the 2nd District seat he would support a new bill, sponsored in the U.S. House by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would guarantee comprehensive healthcare to every U.S. resident as a human right, eliminating all premiums, deductibles and copayments.The legislation would end the leading role of private insurers in providing most of the nation’s healthcare coverage, although they would be allowed to sell supplemental plans.
[,,,] Little, who like Sanders considers himself a progressive, said the time is ripe politically to once again try to establish a “single payer” system similar to those of other industrialized nations that most Republicans decry as low- quality “socialized” medicine.
“I think we are in a defining moment right now in the country,” he said, citing the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid and the GOP Congress’ failure to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that helped many Americans, including about 90,000 Minnesotans, purchase health insurance.
[...] Like Little, state Rep. Kaela Berg is running for the 2nd District congressional seat that is now held by Rep. Angie Craig, who is running for U.S. Senate.
Like Little, Berg is running as a progressive.
But unlike Little, Berg is flexible when it comes to proposed reforms to the nation’s healthcare system.
Berg said she supports the public option “and anything that gives people more health coverage.”
“It’s great to say Medicare for All and energize people,” Berg said. But she said that “we need to have (more) coverage now, whatever that looks like … while we continue to fight for Medicare for All.”
[...] And organized labor is split over Medicare for All, with some unions, including the United Auto Workers and the Association of Flight Attendants, supporting the idea and others strongly opposed because healthcare has been one of organized labor’s most potent bargaining chips.
The third Democrat running for Craig’s seat, state Sen. Matt Klein, is a physician, an internist who works for the Mayo Clinic.
He said he is a “firm believer that we need to get to universal healthcare” and if elected to Congress would “support whatever bill advances that.”
But he stopped short of backing Medicare for All, saying he would prefer the implementation of the public option.
The American Medical Association is firmly opposed to Medicare for All, saying it would limit patient choice and physician autonomy. The American Hospital Association and other powerful medical groups also strongly oppose the idea of a government-run, single payer plan.
Still, more than 100 U.S. House Democrats, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, and Betty McCollum, D-4th District, are co-sponsors of Jayapal’s Medicare for All bill and Sen. Tina Smith has co-sponsored Sanders’. But Rep. Kelly Morrison, D-3rd District, who like Klein is a physician, has not co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation.
[...] The Democrats running for retiring Sen. Tina Smith’s seat — Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan — are also split over how to achieve the goal of universal health coverage.
“This is not working,” Flanagan said of the nation’s healthcare system. “It is broken and I think people are ready (for Medicare for All).”
While noting the healthcare overhaul is impossible unless Democrats hold the White House and both chambers of Congress, Flanagan said defaulting to support of a public option for now with the hopes of working toward Medicare for All would not work.
“You should not start at the bottom because you are going to get even less,” she said.
Craig, meanwhile, last week introduced the Medicare-X Choice Act, which would create a public option in the nation’s Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Craig said the public option would “give the insurance companies some competition,” leading to lower premiums and better coverage for all.
Yeah, the bastards would compete over highest percentage of denied coverage, as they have under present law.
Let them compete for supplemental plans, but there, expect them to still be denying coverage to boost the bottom line profits they would want to still extract, but at lower levels than they are permitted to extract now. Final item paragraphs:
Since Democrats are split over Medicare for All, there’s little chance a single-payer system will be established in the United States anytime soon.
But a Democratic takeover of the U.S. House and/or U.S. Senate could result in a rush of Democratic healthcare legislation and a vigorous debate over how to reverse the increase in uninsured Americans, even as any substantial change would have to wait for a Democratic president.
That ending is true enough. But if the people are ready to send populist progressive candidates in ever larger numbers to Congress, the wrestle is set and only improvement can come of it, however long the timeline. Do it.
Of interest, over the last 24hrs Google Analytics shows the bulk of Crabgrass readers are from the US. A distant second, Norway. And we should lust for the plan they have. Beyond a $200- $300 copay, up front, the rest for a year is free, as needed.
See: here, and here. A way to view that, Norwegians are comparatively a civilized nation. With a healthcare perspective not that of the most predatory highwayman imaginable (arguably A/K/A that of UnitedHealth).
You want rankings? Try this. You'll have to go down the list somewhat to find the US, and the opening two paragraphs may be viewed as hinting so:
Health
These nations prove that health is the ultimate wealth. By investing in universal care and cutting-edge research, they make it clear that quality medical support should be treated as a right, not a luxury. They build populations that are resilient and health infrastructure that is prepared to tackle any threat. Their focus on healthy life expectancy and universal coverage makes them the gold standard for modern, compassionate living.
The Health category is based on an equally weighted average of three subcategories: Mortality & Longevity, Public Health Preparedness and Healthcare. For more information on how we rank, read the Best Countries methodology.