WORLD REPORT On March 3, 14 states will pick their nominees for the US presidential election. The feasability of a single payer insurance plan is a key issue. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.
Anxiety about rising health-care costs— the top issue for Democratic voters, according to recent polls—propelled Bernie Sanders to the head of the pack in last week’s Democratic primary contest in Nevada. Of the six leading candidates vying for the party’s presidential nomination, Sanders, a Vermont senator and self-described democratic socialist, has proposed the most radical solution for lowering medical bills and reaching universal coverage. His signature policy initiative, the Medicare for All single-payer programme, would eliminate private health insurance, including employment-based plans that cover about half of the US population. [Article compares Medicare for All and the public option proposal favoured by former Vice President Joe Biden; continuedhere]
WORLD REPORT The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will decide how to spend new federal funds later this year. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.
After a hiatus of more than two decades, Congress and President Donald Trump agreed to add funding for gun violence research to the federal budget in December. With grants expected to be awarded in September, the priorities for research and its potential impact are crucial for halting the US’s record-breaking gun-related death toll. [Continued here.]
Volume 395 Number 10222 8 February 2020