As Coronavirus Exposes Deep Flaws of For-Profit System, Biden Doubles Down on Opposition to Medicare for All

Absolutely criminal, heartless, and cruel. This is what it looks like when those in positions of power act in the best interests of their wealthy donor friends rather than we the people. It is long past time to get Big Money out of our political system and cleanse our government of its toxicity! — Molly

"This is a losing politics."

By

Eoin Higgins

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, told MSNBC's Yasmin Vossoughian Monday that he did not believe the U.S. needs a single-payer healthcare system, even in the face of the coronavirus outbreak that has already killed over 2,300 people in the country.

"Are you now reconsidering your position when it comes to single-payer healthcare?" asked Vossoughian.

"Single payer will not solve that at all," Biden replied, referring to the strained U.S. healthcare system. 

The former vice president's rejection of Medicare for All in the midst of a global pandemic was not lost on observers.

"The primary voice speaking out against single-payer right now in the middle of an epidemic is Joe Biden," noted Dig Left researcher Andrew Perez.

I don't think anyone is arguing that single-payer healthcare would prevent diseases from happening, but rather that it would prevent financial ruin and care delays for millions of people. Would love to see Joe Biden debate this important question :) https://t.co/zJBAhvrPXY

— Elizabeth Bruenig (@ebruenig) March 30, 2020

Biden's remaining rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), has made his outspoken support for Medicare for All a central plank of his campaign. 

Critics of the former vice president bemoaned his "doubling down" on a position which seemed sure to result in electoral ruin. 

"This is a losing politics," tweeted The Nation literary editor David Marcus. "In almost every state that's held a primary so far, including those Biden has won, exit polls show a majority of Democrats prefer single payer."

The question of whether the U.S. would be better suited to handle the crisis with a Medicare for All system has persisted throughout the coronavirus outbreak, which is expected to get worse and peak in the coming weeks and months. Progressives mourned a California teen who died last week, likely from the coronavirus, after being turned away from a hospital for a lack of insurance and questioned the viability and morality of a healthcare system where something like that could happen during a raging pandemic. 

"How can anyone defend this system?" tweeted Claire Sandberg, the Sanders campaign's national organizing director. "Treatment must be free for all."

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