PROVIDENCE – Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has backed Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and his “Medicare for All” single-payer health care reform while continuing to explore a publicly operated health insurance option he co-sponsored in January.
“It’s time we had a real conversation about creating a national health plan. That’s why I intend to co-sponsor Senator Sanders’ bill. And I’ll continue to explore other ways we can improve health care and lower costs, including adding a publicly operated health insurance option to individual marketplaces, like the one I co-authored with Senators Brown and Franken,” Whitehouse said.
Whitehouse, along with Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Al Franken, D-Minn., have reintroduced legislation to create a public health insurance option, guaranteeing American consumers access to an affordable, high-quality plan in every health insurance market in the country. Whitehouse and Brown drafted similar legislation when the Senate was deliberating the Affordable Care Act in 2009.
Their public health insurance option, the Consumer Health Options and Insurance Competition Enhancement Act, would create a public option subject to the same requirements that apply to other plans offered on the current ACA exchanges. It would offer the same premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions available to individual marketplace consumers.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. You can email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
