WATCH: Elizabeth Warren Can’t Give Specifics on Health Care Plan When Confronted By Her Own Supporter
Massachusetts Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren was confronted by one of her own supporters who asked for “specificity” on Warren’s plans to pay for “Medicare for All,” and was told that “the numbers will be out there.”
Since the last Democratic debate, Warren has been under increased pressure to explain how she will pay for the Bernie Sanders version of Medicare for All, and that pressure has now extended to her own supporters.
At a rally in New Hampshire Wednesday, a woman named Maxine told Warren that she had traveled with friends from Warren’s home state of Massachusetts.
“I have a lot of friends and neighbors and colleagues who have a tremendous amount of respect and support for you, but the question that comes up, over and over and over again, is the specificity of healthcare reform,” Maxine said, adding “because of the difference between our nation and many others, many feel you can’t go the same route and funding as, say Canada, and the funding.”
“And some of us are happy with the health insurance we have, so we came up here looking for more specifics on your healthcare financing plan,” she concluded.
Warren thanked Maxine for her question, then spent several minutes speaking about the current health care system, the insurance companies, her decades of research into bankruptcy, and her support for Medicare for All as the solution before responding to Maxine’s question.
“You asked the question quite reasonably, you only asked half of it but I’m going to do both halves,” Warren said, then added “How much is it going to cost and how are we going to pay for it?”
“Something I’ve been working on for a while now, and I’m going to put out a plan on it and you can see it, you can see all the numbers,” Warren said, then joked “Because I’ve got a math major over there who’s working on his PHD, and he’s going to be checking them out to make sure they add up, am I right?”
A previous questioner had identified himself as a math major.
“And I think that’s important, and the numbers will be out there,” Warren said. She went on to say that “as Democrats, we’re working on what’s the right way to do it, how do we get the dials right.”
At the debate two weeks ago, Warren faced attacks from Democratic rivals over her refusal to say whether middle-class taxes would rise under her plan. Senator Amy Klobuchar contrasted Warren with Senator Bernie Sanders on the issue, saying “At least Bernie’s honest here and saying how he’s going to pay for this.”
Since then, Warren has been repeatedly pressed on the issue, and promised to produce a plan within “the next few weeks.”
During that time, Warren has dropped more than two full points in the RealClearPolitics polling average, while Sanders has gained more than a point. Sanders has also faced questions from his own supporters about the costs associated with his health care plan, but as Klobuchar noted, has not shied away from talking about the tax increases that will be necessary.
Watch the clip above, via Now This Politics.