Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has a message for Democrats flush with new power after the midterms: be bold, and make Republicans vote on health care. In an interview Thursday with MS NOW host Chris Hayes, Sanders said Democrats must lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 55 as an "immediate first step" toward Medicare for All. And then he said the quiet part out loud about President Donald Trump.
"I am not absolutely certain that Trump would not sign it, but whether he would or not, our job is to produce it," Sanders said.
That is a striking thing to say about a president from the opposing party. Hayes had noted that polling on Medicare for All has gone up, but that the odds of Trump signing it into law are "pretty small." Sanders replied that Trump has the constitutional right to veto, but that Democrats have the right "to pass the damn thing." He described Trump as "a good politician" who, seeing that the system is broken, may ask what he has to lose.
"He wants to veto it. Republicans want to sustain that veto. That is their responsibility, the American people will see it," Sanders said.
The 51-Vote Plan
A day earlier, in a video address on his YouTube channel, Sanders laid out the mechanics. Democrats "must lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 down to 55, expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing, and guarantee universal health care coverage for every child from birth through age 19." He said "all of this can be accomplished with 51 votes in the Senate through the reconciliation process," the budget maneuver that lets the Senate pass certain measures with a simple majority instead of the usual 60-vote threshold.
In the same address, Sanders said Democrats must "repeal the trillion dollars in cuts Trump made to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to prevent 15 million Americans from losing their healthcare." He also said they must "restore ACA tax credits to stop the outrageous premium spikes for 20 million Americans." Those figures are Sanders' own claims, and he did not cite a source for them in the video.
"Health care must be considered as a human right, not a privilege," Sanders said, adding that Medicare for All is "now supported by 66% of the American people." During the MS NOW interview, he put the support at "over 60%."
Other Democrats Have Their Own Plans
Sanders is not the only Democrat with a health care blueprint. Newly elected U.S. Senator Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.) had outlined a three-step plan to reach Medicare for All: make Medicare whole, include vision, dental and hearing coverage, and extend it to more people, starting with children. He said eligibility would then move down from 65 to 60 and "down into the 50s." Original Medicare generally does not cover routine dental care, eye exams for prescription glasses or hearing aids.
After the midterms, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) had called for "Medicare for All" and a "$25 living wage" in a post on X, listing taxes on billionaires among his priorities. In an MS NOW interview with host Peter Alexander, he said Democrats should pass the agenda through the House and Senate and force Trump to veto it. Khanna argued that a veto could set the stage for "a new bold progressive era for our nation."
So the progressive wing has a plan, a process and a polling number. What it does not have is a signature. Sanders' bet is that the fight itself is the point: put the bill on Trump's desk, make him veto it, and let voters decide who is responsible. Whether that is a strategy or a message is the question Democrats will spend the next two years answering.
