- The Washington Times - Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Seema Nanda, CEO of the Democratic National Committee, couldn’t give an answer Tuesday about how Democrats planned to pay for a single-payer health care system many of them campaigned on known as “Medicare for All.”

“I don’t think we’re there yet,” Ms. Nanda told Yahoo Finance at its “All Markets Summit: America’s Financial Future” in Washington.

During the discussion, Ms. Nanda was asked how Democrats planned to pay for the multitrillion-dollar plan that many of them supported ahead of the midterm elections. Dodging a question on whether Democrats planned to raise taxes in order to pay for it, Ms. Nanda pivoted the discussion to “skyrocketing deficits” caused by President Trump.

“I think what we saw with this Republican Party is we saw an irresponsible tax cut and then we saw an immediate pivot that they … planned to go after Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid next,” she said. “It is this president that is causing skyrocketing deficits and now they plan on going after these core programs.”

“So, you know, your answer is I don’t know how we’re going to get there, but these are all big conversations that we need to be engaged in,” she added.

“Medicare for All,” an idea endorsed by former President Barack Obama in September, would essentially do away with private health insurance plans in favor of a single, nationally-run health insurance program. It has been estimated to cost the country more than $30 trillion.

Mr. Trump penned an op-ed last month saying the plan would “eviscerate” Medicare and put doctors and hospitals out of business.

• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.

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