As more Democrats articulate their view of just what a Medicare for All scenario might look like, Senator Kamala Harris, D-CA, has unveiled her version—which keeps private insurance in the picture.

Although she's a cosponsor of the Medicare for All plan proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-VT, which would be phased in over four years and eliminate private insurers in the process, According to Medium, Harris's version takes 10 years to come into full effect and retains private insurers who would offer Medicare plans “that adhere to strict Medicare requirements on costs and benefits.”

During the 10-year transition, infants and the uninsured would get automatic enrollment into the new system while others could optionally buy into the government-backed health care plan.

“Medicare will set the rules of the road for these plans, including price and quality, and private insurance companies will play by those rules, not the other way around,” Harris said of her plan.

During the Democratic debate in June, Harris had come down on the side of eliminating private insurance, but then backtracked, saying that she misunderstood the question.

And while Sanders's plan would raise middle-class taxes, Harris's would not; families making $100,000 or more, however, would see a tax increase. Few mentions of the tax increase for the middle class under the Sanders plan, which would tax all households making more than $29,000 an additional 4 percent, also point out that the higher taxes would be more than offset by an absence of health insurance premiums, as well as more robust coverage of more people—and the higher government costs for the plan would also be more than offset by savings in other areas.

Harris is among the top four candidates vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, along with Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-MA and former vice president Joe Biden, who has gone so far as to attack Medicare for All in a defense of the Affordable Care Act that also “celebrates private insurance,” according Salon.

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Kamala Harris's health plan would keep private insurance

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