Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, left, watches as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., answers a question Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, during a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

NASHUA – A nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based think tank estimates that Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s “Medicare for All Who Want It” plan would actually grow the nation’s economy by $450 billion during the next decade.

Conversely, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget projects the version of Medicare for All espoused by Bernie Sanders would drain $13.4 trillion from the economy during the 10-year time period.

With New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation (#FITN) presidential primary now within a week, one of the main differences among the top-tier Democratic candidates remains their approach to health care. As with former Vice President Joe Biden, Buttigieg favors a voluntary approach that does not seem to jeopardize the future of for-profit health insurance.

Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, however, seem to favor more rigid approaches that will eventually lead to a single-payer model, similar to that found in Canada and Western Europe.

With polls showing these four candidates as the leading contenders in New Hampshire, The Telegraph decided to provide details of this study to our readers. Though the study shows “low,” “central” and “high” projections for each, we will focus on the data in the central models.

To view the full study, go to: www.crfb.org/papers/primary-care-estimating-leading-democratic-candidates-health-plans.

BUTTIGIEG’S PLAN

Researchers at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget show the cost to implement Buttigieg’s plan at $1.6 trillion over 10 years, is $100 billion more than the $1.5 trillion the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana estimates on his website.

However, the total estimated fiscal impact of the plan for 10 years is a net positive of $450 billion.

• Estimated people to gain health coverage under the plan: 20 million to 30 million.

BIDEN’S PLAN

Biden has said he favors a public option expansion of Obamacare – officially known as the Affordable Care Act – that would have a net cost of $750 billion. The study shows a net impact of negative $800 billion over 10 years, about $50 billion more than the Biden estimates.

• Estimated people to gain health coverage under the plan: 15 million to 20 million.

WARREN’S PLAN

“My plan for health care reverses the Trump Administration’s sabotage of our health care, allows everyone in America to choose a Medicare for All option for little or no cost, and cuts costs for families before moving us into full Medicare for All – all in my first term,” Warren vows on her website.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s estimated net fiscal impact of Warren’s plan for 10 years is a negative $6.1 trillion.

• Estimated people to gain health coverage under the plan: 30 million to 35 million.

SANDERS’ PLAN

For decades, Sanders has supported a single-payer health care system. During a December debate in Los Angeles, he acknowledged this will lead to tax hikes, but said the working class will be better with it.

“The average worker in America, their family makes $60,000 a year. That family is now paying $12,000 a year for health care – 20% of their income. Under Medicare for All, that family will be paying $1,200 a year because we’re eliminating the profiteering of the drug companies and the insurance companies,” Sanders claimed.

The think tank study shows Sanders’ plan with a negative $13.4 trillion fiscal impact for 10 years.

• Estimated people to gain health coverage under the plan: 30 million to 35 million.

POLLS WITH ONE WEEK TO GO

Chicago-based Real Clear Politics uses a compilation of polls to form an average. Below will be the Monday polling averages for each candidate in New Hampshire the nation.

New Hampshire

• Bernie Sanders – 26.5%

• Joe Biden – 17.5%

• Elizabeth Warren – 14.3%

• Pete Buttigieg – 13.7%

• Amy Klobuchar – 6.7%

• Tulsi Gabbard – 5.2%

• Andrew Yang – 4.2%

• Tom Steyer – 3.5%

Nation

• Biden – 27%

• Sanders – 23.7%

• Warren – 15%

• Michael Bloomberg* – 8.3%

• Buttigieg – 6.5%

• Yang – 4.5%

• Klobuchar – 4.3%

• Steyer – 1.8%

• Gabbard – 1.7%

• Michael Bennet – 0.5%

• Deval Patrick – 0.5%

* Bloomberg is not running in New Hampshire.

Sanders won the 2016 New Hampshire primary with more than 60% of the vote, but did not have enough national support to outlast eventual Democratic nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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