The approach represents a potential way forward on a priority issue for Democrats if the party regains power in the future.
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Sen. Andy Kim (D-New Jersey) introduced legislation Tuesday proposing a new approach to improving health care coverage: expanding Medicare to cover children.
The proposal, which Kim calls MediKids, is unlikely to go anywhere soon, with Republicans in control of Congress and President Donald Trump in the White House. But it represents a potential way forward on a priority issue for Democrats if the party regains power in the future.
Democrats have a political advantage over Republicans on the issue: 42 percent of Americans agree with Democrats on health care and 29 percent agree with Republicans, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted last year. But Democratic lawmakers are divided on the best way to expand coverage, as some Democrats campaign on Medicare-for-all and others call for a more incremental approach.
Kim described his bill as a way to unite the different factions in his party, and he cast it as a moral imperative as the number of uninsured children rises.
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“We can’t just say we don’t support what the Trump administration did,” Kim said. “We do have to put forward our own solutions, our own vision to be able to energize and inspire the American people.”
Kim’s bill would enroll children automatically in MediKids at birth and cover them through age 26, with an option to opt out. It has not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office, and Kim said he did not know how much it would cost, though he argued investing in health care for children would ultimately save money.
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