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Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, has become something of a panacea in the Democratic presidential race. Some candidates, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, want to give it to everyone and even expand its benefits. Others, like former Representative Beto O’Rourke, want to give it automatically to people who don’t have other health insurance. Many, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, want to give people the right to buy into a Medicare-like public health insurance program. Whatever their positions, Medicare is what most of the candidates are holding up as a model for universal coverage, a goal they all embrace. (Goodnough, 7/31)

In one of the most heated exchanges over health care during the first of this week’s Democratic presidential debates, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock derided the idea of Medicare-for-all as “wish-list economics” that “rips away quality health care for individuals.” “We can get there with a public option,” Bullock declared, using shorthand for letting people buy into a government health plan. That endorsement from a candidate positioned toward the right in the crowded Democratic field reflects a remarkable migration: The notion of a government health plan that many Americans could buy into has gone from being a polarizing liberal wish to a centrist policy favorite within the party. (Goldstein, 7/31)