[WAPO] Pete Buttigieg is mayor of South Bend, Ind., and is a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.BINASH
Earlier this year, I lost my father to cancer. I make decisions for a living, but nothing could have prepared me for the kind of decisions our family faced as his illness grew more serious. But as challenging as that time was for my family, one thing we did not have to worry about was whether his illness would bankrupt our family. Because he was covered by Medicare, we were free to focus on what mattered most.
I want every family to have that same freedom. But as anyone who has ever visited a doctor knows, health care in the United States remains too expensive, too complicated and too frustrating. The system seems almost designed to leave us feeling powerless and confused.
As president, I will put Americans in charge of their own health care with affordable choices for all. I’ll ensure that every American has access to affordable coverage either through private insurance or a public alternative. If a private insurance plan through your employer or the marketplace isn’t affordable, you can get a plan that is. It’s what I call "Medicare for All Who Want It."
Many Democrats have proposed a Medicare-for-all plan, and while each of us would achieve universal coverage, there’s a real difference between the plan I’m announcing on Thursday and the ones offered by candidates such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.). Rather than flipping a switch and kicking almost 160 million Americans off their private insurance, including 20 million seniors already choosing private plans within Medicare, my plan lets Americans keep a private plan if they want to. If private insurers are unable or unwilling to offer better plans than they do today, competition from this public alternative will naturally lead to Medicare-for-all.