'This Plan Is A Disaster. One Size Does Not Fit All': N.Y. Union Leader Reacts To 'Medicare For All' Proposal
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - She had the plan, and now she's telling us how she will pay for it.
Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's "Medicare for All" plan comes with a price tag of more than $20 trillion, and is being met with some harsh criticism.
Warren was back on the campaign trail, hours after outlining how her Medicare for All plan will be funded.
"Think about this. I have a plan that says we can have Medicare for all without raising taxes for middle class families by one cent," Warren said.
Medicare for All would do away with all private health coverage and put every American on government-run health insurance. Senator Bernie Sanders wrote the bill, but he has said it would likely lead to tax increases for the middle class.
LINK: More on Warren's plan from CBS News
"Together we are going to end the international embarrassment of the United States of America to be be the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all of their people," Sanders said.
But while Sanders still hasn't outlined how he would pay for the plan, now Warren has, saying it's important to fight misinformation.
Warren plans to fund the $20.5 trillion endeavor by:
- Employers paying trillions of dollars to the federal government in lieu of the money they currently spend providing health coverage to employees
- Employees would be taxed on additional take home pay no longer spent on health insurance
The plan also cracks down on
- Tax evasion and fraud
- Targets the financial sector and large corporations and private investors alike with taxes on financial transactions such as stock trades
- Beefs up the wealth tax, with billionaires paying 6% on wealth over $1 billion
At an August union convention in Las Vegas, Warren promised to bring members to the table when negotiating her health care plan, but one union boss told CBS2's Jessica Moore he isn't buying it.
"Sometimes when you're brought to the table, you're asked to get on the table because you're the meal," said Gregory Floyd, president of Teamster Local 237, which represents 24,000 New York City workers, including NYCHA employees to school safety agents.
He says most of his union membership would never vote for a candidate running on Medicare for All.
"This plan is a disaster. One size does not fit all. You have to find a way to work with private insurance companies as well as those who don't have insurance," Floyd said.
Floyd says he worries about the thousands of private health insurance jobs that will be lost under the plan, and is convince his members would lose bargaining power at the negotiating table.
"We take a lower salary to make sure we have health coverage for our members," he said.
"So how would taking away that bargaining chip effect you?" Moore asked.
"One, we won't get the money back that we already spent on health coverage and we won't have control of the health coverage," Floyd said.
Warren says she'll release another plan in coming weeks on how to transition to Medicare for All. Sanders says it will take four years.
