Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton over the weekend took a major step towards reconciliation with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont by announcing additional concessions on health care policy more in line with Sanders’s call for universal health care coverage.
While stopping short of Sanders’s plan for a single-payer “Medicare for all” approach that is favored by many liberal Democrats, Clinton on Saturday affirmed her support for allowing people 55 and older to buy into Medicare coverage, the national health insurance program currently available only to seniors 65 and older, The Washington Post reported.
Related: Trump and Clinton Heading for Obamacare Showdown
Clinton also said she would allow states to offer government-operated health plans under the Affordable Care Act – so-called “public options” which she pushed for during her first, unsuccessful campaign for president in 2008. And she said she would seek to expand federal funding by $40 billion over the coming decade for community-based centers that provide primary health care services.
Under that proposal, funding would be doubled for “federally qualified “ health centers, which serve about 25 million low income people in the U.S., many of whom are minorities and reside in hard to reach rural areas, according to Clinton campaign. Sanders made community health care centers a key priority during his primary challenge to Clinton this year and has long championed increased funding for the program.
Taken together with her earlier commitments to address the problems of sharply rising health care premiums, out-of-pocket costs and prescription drug prices, Clinton has managed to draw strong praise from her Democratic rival Sanders.
Sanders reportedly plans to endorse her on Tuesday during a campaign event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He told reporters during a conference call yesterday that Clinton had made an “important step forward” towards his vision of a national health program for all Americans.
Related: Clinton Moves Toward Sanders on ‘Medicare for All’
“Together these steps will get us closer to the day when everyone in this country has access to quality affordable health care,” Sanders said.
Without confirming that he would endorse Clinton, Sanders said, "It’s fair to say that the Clinton campaign and our campaign are coming closer and closer together in trying to address the major issues facing this country, which is what my campaign was all about.”
Health care reform was a major source of tension between Clinton and Sanders throughout the Democratic primary season.