Somehave noted that backing sweeping, government-run health reform mayplay well with Democratic primary voters but prove toxic in thegeneral election. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Marijuana decriminalization. Paid family leave. And, yes,"Medicare for All."

Democrats strayed a little from arguing the intricacies ofsingle-payer health care during their fifth presidential debate on Wednesday, bringingideas like expunging drug convictions into the discussion.

Just 10 candidates qualified for the two-hour debate in Atlantaas the countdown to 2020 continues.

Related: Health care a hot topic in round 2 of Democraticdebates

While Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., has taken a recent lead in Iowa, former Vice President JoeBiden remains at the front of the pack in national polls.

After a brief spike in the polls, Massachusetts Sen. ElizabethWarren is still in second place. And after months of dodgingquestions about what Medicare for All would look like under herpresidency, this time she was ready for the health carequestion.

Warren quickly ticked off how, on her first day in office, shewould bring down the cost of drugs like insulin and EpiPens, twomedications that have been the subject of outrage over runawayprice hikes. She said she would defend the Affordable Care Act fromthe Trump administration's "sabotage."

Then Warren elaborated on her plan, saying that in her first 100days, she would bring "135 million people into Medicare for All atno cost to them," detailing steps to insure children and those withhousehold income under $50,000, as well as lower the Medicare ageto 50 and expand coverage for vision, dental and long-termcare.

"And then, in the third year, when people have had a chance tofeel it and taste it and live with it, we're going to vote andwe're going to want Medicare for All," she said.

That question of what Americans want dominated the brief healthcare conversation.

"We don't have to tear down the system. But we do have to dowhat the American people want," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, theVermont independent. "And the American people understand that thecurrent system is not only cruel, it's dysfunctional."

Biden said the appetite for Medicare for All is not there — notamong the lawmakers who would have to pass it, not even amongDemocrats.

"The fact is that right now the vast majority of Democrats donot support Medicare for All," he said. "It couldn't pass theUnited States Senate right now with Democrats. It couldn't pass theHouse."

But 77 percent of Democrats strongly or somewhat favor a single-payer, Medicare for Allplan, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll releasedearlier on Wednesday. (Kaiser Health News is an editoriallyindependent program of the foundation.)

Support is about 53 percent for Medicare for All amongall voters, the poll showed. It found that support softens whenrespondents are told about the trade-offs they might face inexchange for a single-payer system.

For instance, opinions changed little when respondents were toldthat it would eliminate private insurance and allow people tochoose their providers. But support dropped to 47 percentwhen respondents were told it could increase their taxes whiledecreasing their overall health care costs.

Some have noted that backing sweeping, government-run healthreform may play well with Democratic primary voters but prove toxicin the general election, when the nominee would hope to attractmoderate and even Republican votes.

A September poll of Democratic caucusgoers from The Des MoinesRegister/CNN foundabout 69 percent said they were personally"comfortable" with a government-run, Medicare for Allsystem.

But about 28 percent of those comfortable with it saidthey were also afraid that that position could cost a Democraticcandidate the presidential election.

One of the livelier health care exchanges came when New JerseySen. Cory Booker accused Biden of opposing marijuanadecriminalization, a policy that has become less far-fetched as onestate after another has legalized the drug for medical andrecreational use.

Booker said the "war on drugs" has been "a war on black andbrown people."

"This week I heard him literally say I don't think we shouldlegalize marijuana.' I thought you might have been high when yousaid it," Booker said to Biden late in the debate. "And let me tellyou, because marijuana in our country is already legal forprivileged people."

Biden disputed Booker's accusation, saying he supports marijuanadecriminalization, as well as releasing offenders from jail andexpunging their records. "But I do think it makes sense based ondata that we should study what the long-term effects are for theuse of marijuana," he added.

Research on marijuana has been significantly limited by thefederal government's classification of the drug under Schedule 1 ofthe Controlled Substances Act, making it difficult to access forexperimental purposes. The surgeon general, Jerome Adams, has saidit can "prime your brain for addiction to other substances,"a claim PolitiFact recently rated "Half True" due to a lack ofcontext.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Sen. Amy Klobuchar ofMinnesota also described their plans on Wednesday to give peoplesix months and three months of paid family leave, respectively.

Klobuchar decried "things that sound good on a bumper sticker."Democrats have to be ambitious but also honest with voters abouthow to pay for those ideas, she said.

"And that is everything — sending rich kids to college for free,which I don't support, to kicking 149 million off their currenthealth insurance in four years," she said, a seemingly veiled jabat Warren's phase-in plan for Medicare for All.

The candidates also reaffirmed their commitment to abortionaccess, with Warren pointing out its economic ramifications.

"When someone makes abortion illegal in America, rich women willstill get abortions," she said. "It's just going to fall hard onpoor women. It's going to fall hard on girls, women who don't evenknow that they're pregnant because they have been molested by anuncle."

"I want to be an America where everybody has a chance," Warrensaid.

The sixth debate will be held on Dec. 19 in Los Angeles. TheDemocratic National Committee plans to hold a total of 12 primarydebates.

Kaiser HealthNews (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is aneditorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation whichis not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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