Republicans launch anti-Medicare for All ad campaign tied to Dem debate
WASHINGTON — As Democratic presidential candidates prepare to debate issues like health care next week in Miami, Republicans are preparing a major national ad campaign to try to turn public opinion against Medicare for All.
One Nation, a GOP group tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is launching a $4 million campaign on national broadcast and cable TV, as well as radio and digital platforms around the debate to highlight what it calls "horror-stories" from Canada's single-payer health care system.
A handful of prominent Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and California Sen. Kamala Harris, are backing a Medicare-for-All approach to health care.
The ad focuses on long wait times patients have had to endure for procedures like heart surgery, with a narrator warning, "Medicare for All would eliminate private insurance for 180 million people — you and every American waiting in the same government-run plan."
“We’re going to make sure every American understands that Medicare for All means paying more for lower-quality care, longer wait times and restricted choice,” said One Nation President and CEO Steven Law. “If you’re a union worker, a family dependent on employer insurance, or a senior relying on traditional Medicare, so-called Medicare for All will turn your world upside down.”
While many presidential candidates have said they support "Medicare for All," the term can actually apply to a wide variety of plans to overhaul the health care system.
Most candidates actually support an idea to give Americans the option to buy into a government-run system like Medicare, while Sanders calls for a more sweeping reform that would replace private insurance with a Canadian-style single-payer system like the ones described in the One Name ad.
The concept is a fairly new one to most Americans, which gives partisans on both sides have an opportunity to try to define it. Polls show a majority of Americans favor the idea of universal health care, but are confused about specifics of "Medicare for All."
One recent survey by a Democratic group found Americans favor an optional buy-in scheme, but are more hostile towards a full-blown Canadian-style system that would eliminate private insurance, giving Republicans an incentive to try to conflate the two in voters' minds.