Just three weeks before the Democratic National Convention, hundreds of Bernie Sanders delegates have vowed to vote against their party’s platform if it does not include support for “Medicare for All.”
Delegates argue that a Sanders-style single-payer healthcare system is an urgent priority amid the coronavirus pandemic and the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression.
Nevada delegates organized the petition and nearly 500 of them, most of whom endorsed Sanders for president, have signed off, delegates told Fox News.
However, Sanders himself, I-Vt., Will vote for the platform, Fox News is told.
The petition claims that “most Americans” now believe that “Medicare for All” is the best way to achieve affordable and accessible health care.
WHAT IS JOE BIDEN’S HEALTH CARE PLAN?
Sanders delegates are likely to face off against their party’s alleged nominee, Joe Biden, who opposes a single-payer system. “Medicare for All” was not included in an 80-page draft Democratic Party platform released on July 21. Instead, the platform promises to make healthcare more affordable in the Affordable Care Act markets.
Fox News confirmed the request with two Sanders delegates. Both delegates are from New Hampshire and tell Fox News that their state’s Sanders delegation has yet to decide whether to sign the pledge.
The move by Sanders’ delegates comes as the Democratic National Committee Platform Committee meets virtually on Monday to discuss and vote on the party’s platform.
Monday’s vote by the platform committee will be followed by a vote on the platform by the approximately 4,000 convention delegates. That will take place remotely from August 3 to 15, just before the convention.
“Senator Sanders believes that the Democratic Party platform should strongly advocate for Medicare for All, and that, of course, is an important reason why he fought so hard for the nomination,” said Mike Casca, a spokesman for Bernie 2020. “The senator appreciates that, amid a deadly pandemic that is creating a national health emergency, his delegates understand that now more than ever we must guarantee medical care as a human right.”
Biden has long insisted on developing the Affordable Care Act with a public option, which would be a government-administered insurance plan available for anyone to enroll in.
“Whether you are covered by your employer, buy your insurance on your own, or are not fully covered, the Biden plan will give you the option to buy a public health insurance option like Medicare,” explains his campaign.
In addition to that, Biden wants to lower the age to qualify for Medicare from 65 to 60 and expand ACA subsidies.
Biden currently has 2,632 delegates, while Sanders has 1,076. Signatories to the petition have little chance of formally reviewing the Democratic platform, but they hope their protest will draw attention to the cause.
WHAT IS ON THE BIDEN-SANDERS UNIT PLATFORM?
Despite their frustration with the former vice president, progressive petition organizers said they all vote for Biden and work to elect him. Organizers said they are not being divisive, but instead drew attention to the strength of a grassroots movement that they believe the Democratic leadership ignores.
Still, the petition may recall a scene that unfolded at the 2016 convention: Sanders supporters and other angry party members booed officials trying to open proceedings. “We are all Democrats and we must act like this,” the president rebuked. However, this year’s largely virtual convention should calm fears of a repeat.
The promise comes when President Trump has tried to paint Biden as a debt to the radical left, after Biden and Sanders signed a “platform for unity” as part of an effort to find common ground between established Democrats and the far left flank.
“I think [Biden is] fear of people to his left, “Trump said during a telephone interview on Fox News'” Hannity. “
“These are very radicalized people. I mean, he’s going that far, he’s given everything to Bernie,” Trump said, referring to the Democrats’ unity convention platform. “Bernie can’t even believe it. Bernie is saying, ‘I can’t believe what we have.'”
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In recent times, Trump has pushed the idea that Biden supports the “dismantle the police” movement, among other radical platforms. Biden’s campaign has denied that he supports the police outlay, although Biden himself said some funds should be diverted from the police forces.
Fox News’ Andrew Craft, Jacqui Heinrich and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
