Bloomberg Says Medicare for All Would 'Bankrupt' Country

Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor who is considering a 2020 bid on a centrist Democratic platform, rejected the idea of “Medicare for all,” which has been gaining traction among Democrats.

“I think you could never afford that. You’re talking about trillions of dollars,” Bloomberg said during a political swing in New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first primary in 2020.

“I think you can have ‘Medicare for all’ for people that are uncovered,” he added, “but to replace the entire private system where companies provide health care for their employees would bankrupt us for a very long time.”

Bloomberg did not mention any of his would-be competitors by name. But his wording — particularly the distinction he drew between providing Medicare to everyone and providing it only to those currently uninsured — positioned him clearly against Harris.

Few Democrats have explicitly suggested ending private insurance, even though many have endorsed “Medicare for all.” Harris initially stopped short of it, too, saying at a CNN town-hall event Monday that she supported “Medicare for all” and adding, “We have to appreciate and understand that access to health care, it should not be thought of as a privilege. It should be understood to be a right.”

But when CNN anchor Jake Tapper pressed her on what that meant for private insurance, Harris responded, “Let’s eliminate all of that.”

Lily Adams, a spokeswoman for Harris, responded to Bloomberg on Twitter, noting that he is a billionaire: “Attacked by billionaires for fighting to make sure every American has health care. What a shock.”

The disagreement between Bloomberg and Harris reflects a basic divide within the Democratic Party. On one side are liberals who have proposed ambitious and expensive left-wing policies, from “Medicare for all” to a wealth tax on the richest Americans. On the other side are centrist and fiscally conservative Democrats, along with liberals who support such policies in theory but argue that voters would reject them.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.