Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said Friday that his fellow Democrats were being impractical in their demands for universal Medicare coverage. “I know most of the Democratic primary candidates are all talking about Medicare for all,” Brown said at a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce in Clear Lake, Iowa. “I think instead we should do Medicare at 55.”
Widely expected to run for president in 2020, Brown is one of the sponsors of the “Medicare at 55 Act” introduced in 2017. The bill would create the option for those 55 and older to buy into Medicare.
“If someone has lost her job at [age] 58 or his plant closes at 62, he should be able to buy into Medicare early. It will cost a little bit more, but to me that’s about helping people now … it’s something we might be able to get through Congress,” Brown said Friday.
Brown said he was simply being realistic about what Democrats can accomplish politically: “I’m not going to come and make a lot of promises like President Trump did ... I’m going to talk about what’s practical and what we can make happen.”
