Members of a more centrist coalition of Democrats say that instead of single-payer health care, Congress should initially focus instead on shoring up the Affordable Care Act.
Doctors, hospitals, drug companies and insurers have a simple message: The Affordable Care Act works reasonably well and should be improved, not repealed or replaced with a big new public program.
No issue united Democrats in the 2018 campaign as much as protecting the Affordable Care Act’s guaranteed insurance coverage of people with pre-existing conditions.
Democrats dream of expanding Medicare, but struggle to define the role of the popular private plans that now cover more than one-third of the 60 million Medicare beneficiaries.
States that support the Affordable Care Act said a ruling striking down the law had created “ambiguity” and “poses a dangerous threat to the health care of millions of Americans.”