Healthcare was again a hotly debated issue on the second night of the Democratic debates, hosted by CNN in Detroit.
The debate on July 31 was part two of the second round of Democratic debates in this primary season. The second group of 10 Democratic presidential candidates grappled with many of the same issues in healthcare as their counterparts did the night before. Here are five healthcare highlights to note:
1. Democrats agree universal healthcare is the goal, but the party is split between how far policy needs to go to make that happen. This was at the core of the debate on the stage both nights and gets at a larger ideological divide between leftists and liberals in the Democratic Party. As New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker put it: "This pitting [of] progressives against moderates, saying one is unrealistic and the other doesn't care enough, that to me is dividing our party and demoralizing us in [the] face of the real enemy here."
2. Moderates on the stage backed a public health insurance option, while more progressive candidates touted "Medicare for All" as the answer. This debate primarily played out between former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running on the public option, and California Sen. Kamala Harris, who has a Medicare for All plan that goes further than Mr. Biden's but not as far as that of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Ms. Harris' plan differs from Mr. Sanders' in that it would preserve private insurance and require a 10-year rollout.
3. There was no consensus on what Americans want from their healthcare plans. Candidates in favor of the public option, like Mr. Biden and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, contended that a single-payer Medicare for All plan would lead to significant tax increases on the middle class and would eliminate choice. However, candidates in favor of more sweeping reform challenged the idea that Americans like their private insurance. "There's this mythology that somehow all of these folks are in love with their insurance in America," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "What I hear from union members and from hard-working, middle-class people is they wish they had better insurance."
4. Candidates appeared to agree that pharmaceutical and insurance company profits are the root of the issue in healthcare. "Let's talk about the fact that the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies last year alone profited $72 billion, and that is on the backs of American families," Ms. Harris said.
5. Candidates indicated mental health needs to be part of the healthcare discussion. Three candidates — Mr. Booker, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and entrepreneur Andrew Yang — mentioned the importance of mental healthcare. "We need to talk more about this as Democrats: It is time to give people adequate mental healthcare in this country," Mr. Inslee said.
Read a full transcript of the debate from NBC here. Healthcare highlights from night one are available here.
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