Elizabeth Warren Promises Plan to Cover Every Doctor, Every Provider, Every Prescription Drug

Massachusetts Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has now promised to release another part of her health care plan that will cover “every doctor,” as well as “every provider” and “every prescription drug.”

At a town hall event in Concord, New Hampshire Wednesday, Warren took questions from more than one supporter with concerns about her “Medicare for All” plan, for which she released an ambitious funding plan two weeks ago.

The first question came from Carol Healey of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, who asked a general question about the possibility of losing benefits and quality of care under M4A.

Warren delivered her standard riff on health care, but with a few extra promises. “When you think about the great plan you have right now, the plan you have right now that doesn’t let you go to the doctor you want to see,” Warren said, then declared “That’s gone, because every doctor is covered. The specialist you need to see? They are all covered. The drugs you need? They’re all covered. So whatever your health care is, you got it. You’re covered.”

But the Medicare for All plan that Warren says is her plan does not contain any provision to require every provider to participate, or even to increase participation over its current level. And Medicare doesn’t currently cover every prescription drug or medical service, and denies more claims than private insurers.

Another woman in the crowd would go on to ask a follow-up question that got Warren to tacitly admit those facts, but also to promise — on the spot — that she’d put out a plan to make her promises come true.

Valerie, who identified herself as another New Hampshire DHHS employe, said “My concern is, if there’s Medicare for all, would all medical providers and facilities be required to accept it, or would they have the option to not take it, and require people to self-pay?”

“Where we’re aiming on Medicare for All, not all the transition’s been worked out yet, I’m going to have another plan on this, but where we are aiming on Medicare for All is every doctor is covered, every provider is covered, every health insurance company is covered, every prescription drug is covered.”

Valerie also asked about the 2 million jobs that will be lost under Medicare for All, and Warren promised that they would also be covered in the yet-to-be-released transition plan, and that “nobody will be left behind.”

When Warren released her funding plan two weeks ago, she promised a transition plan “in the coming weeks.” That plan will now need to include money to cover every doctor and health care provider and prescription drug — and a way to legally compel all those providers to accept Medicare — as well as money for the 2 million workers she’s promising not to leave behind.

Watch the clip above, via ABC 13.