That may sound crazy, but what people are actually concerned with is getting the health care they need, not their insurance plan. Jennifer Rubin has a concern trolling piece in the Washington Post claiming that Elizabeth Warren shot herself in the foot at the debate last night by backing Medicare for all:
You can hear Republicans giggling in the background. If she is the nominee, they get to talk about her taking away your doctor and health-care plan and about how rural hospitals will close (due to low reimbursement rates).
But you know what? People don’t really give a crap about their insurance plan. The best insurance plan is the one that no one ever notices, because people only interact with their insurance when something is going wrong, and they have to fight tooth and nail to get their needed care paid for.
Sure, media, you’ll find voters who will tell you, “I like my plan.” And that’s enough for your sound bite or concern-trolling article. But if you ever asked the voter why they like their plan, you’ll find that “I like my plan” is actually shorthand for something like, “It hasn’t caused me any problems. It hasn’t prevented me from seeing my doctor. It hasn’t required outrageous copays or squeezed me with deductibles. And it hasn’t bankrupted me by refusing to cover what the hospital charged for my care. Yet.”
But...won’t Republicans be able to use this as a club against Sanders or Warren if either one is the nominee?
I would caution Democrats: The one sure way to lose in 2020 is to allow President Trump to paint Democrats as crazy socialists who want to take away things voters like (their health care, their SUVs, etc.).
Okay media, if you think this causes a problem for Democrats, my question to you is, what rock have you been hiding under for the last decade? If Republicans didn’t have this club, they’d craft one from scratch out of papier maché and bullshit. Even a modest idea like, for instance, that people with diabetes should be able to afford insulin, will be met with cries from Fox News on down of “Death Panels!” and “Forced Poisoning!” and “Get The Government Out Of My Medicare!!”
And the media seems to forget, in their rush to concern troll progressives, that there’s no one better than Sanders at calling bullshit on stupid “socialism” taunts. And there’s no one better than Warren at connecting the dots between the immorality of the current system and her plan to change it.