Am I the only one who has trouble understanding where 2020 hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) stands on the issues? Perhaps it has something to do with all the times she has changed her tune? Well, she’s at it again.
After signaling her support for a governmental health care system that would eliminate private health insurance during this week’s Democratic debates, Harris reversed her answer on Friday, saying she misheard the question.
Hands up . . .
At the Democratic debate on Thursday evening, moderator Lester Holt had this question for the field: “Many people watching at home have health insurance through their employer. Who here would abolish their private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan?”
Both Harris and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a socialist, raised their hands. And this made sense with what we’ve heard from Harris in the past.
In the current Congress, Harris co-sponsored Sanders’ “Medicare for all” bill that would do just what Holt’s question suggested — eliminate private health insurance and replace it with a government-run single-payer system.
Takebacks allowed?
Something happened, however, between Thursday’s debate-night answer and the next morning. In an interview Friday, Harris changed her answer, saying she had misunderstood the question. “The question was, ‘would you be willing to give up your private insurance for that option,’ and I said yes,” Harris said. “That is certainly what I heard.”
A further explanation was provided by Lily Adams, Harris’ communications director. Adams tried to patch things up by explaining that Harris simply wanted to indicate that she would enroll in a government plan — not that she supports a system of “Medicare for all except for me.”
“She would definitely put herself into a ‘Medicare for all’ system,” said Adams.
So, where does Harris stand?
Let’s not forget that this is not the first time that Harris suggested that she would support the elimination of private health insurance — and then backtracked.
“Who of us has not had that situation, where you’ve got to wait for approval, and the doctor says, ‘Well, I don’t know if your insurance company is going to cover this?’ Let’s eliminate all of that. Let’s move on,” she said at a CNN town hall in January.
But then, during another CNN town hall in February, Harris stated that the “Medicare for all” plan would only remove private health insurance companies as “the main source” of such insurance — that it would still be an accessible “supplemental” insurance.
With all this said, I am still not sure what to expect in terms of health care, should Harris become president. The problem is, she doesn’t seem to know either.
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