Joe Biden had a simple message for organized labor on Wednesday: Unlike 2020 Democratic rivals on the Left I’ll protect your private healthcare plans.
“You’ll be able to keep your negotiated plans,” the former vice president said of his healthcare plan at the Iowa Federation of Labor conference. “You’ve worked like hell, you gave up wages for it.”
Organized labor’s concerns about “Medicare for all” plans touted by Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have been a constant source of vulnerability for their candidacies.
Both Sanders and Warren have pledged to eliminate private insurance plans under their healthcare proposals, which would transfer the entire insurance market to the federal government’s control.
Notably, both Sanders and Warren declined to mention “Medicare for all” during their addresses to the group.
Throughout the campaign, Biden has remained consistently critical of “Medicare for all,” claiming it’s an attack on President Barack Obama’s legacy.
“Folks supporting [Medicare for all] should be clear that it means getting rid of Obamacare, and I’m not for that,” Biden said in a campaign video released in July. “I’m surprised so many Democrats are running on getting rid of it.”
