Tom Steyer's new health care plan looks pretty similar to Joe Biden's
Billionaire activist and Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer unveiled a health care plan Monday that would cost $1.5 trillion over a decade — and the early analysis is that it's mostly in line with the plans offered by other moderate Democratic candidates, like former Vice President Joe Biden.
Steyer, like Biden, is aiming to strengthen the Affordable Health Care Act which was achieved under the Obama-Biden administration. He's proposing a public option for the uninsured (who would be automatically enrolled when they engage with public assistance programs) and for people who aren't satisfied with their private insurance. So, Medicare-for-all isn't on the table for Steyer.
Another major aspect of the program is Steyer's proposal to lower prescription drug costs. He says he'd do so by having Medicare and the public option negotiate drug prices directly with manufacturers and extend those prices to private insurers, as well, which his campaign predicts will save more than $50 billion per year. Read the full plan here.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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