Democrats fight over improving or replacing ObamaCare

At odds. — (Image credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

In Sunday's Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sparred over ObamaCare. NBC's Andrea Mitchell asked Clinton about her campaign's charge that Sanders wants to kill the Affordable Care Act, and Clinton said that Sanders' new plan for a Medicare-for-all health care is another "contentious debate" that the U.S. can't afford. ObamaCare was a hard fight and a big victory for President Obama, Clinton said, and she wants to "defend and build on the Affordable Care Act, and improve it."

Sanders shot back that Clinton hadn't answered the question and said her charge is nonsense. "We are not going to tear up the Affordable Care Act — I helped write it," he said, arguing that FDR and Truman envisioned health care as a right, and it's time to enact that vision, expanding coverage and cutting costs. Clinton responded that Medicare-for-all would mean having to "to start over again, with a whole new debate," and noting that when the Democrats were passing the Affordable Care Act, and they controlled Congress, they couldn't even get the votes for the public option.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.