I like Biden's incremental approach in upgrading Obamacare with a government option a lot more than Bernie's and Elizabeth's Medicare For All. First, two major aspects of Obamacare which many Americans hated was that they lost insurance they were happy with and had no choice in the matter; related was the Cadillac tax, which hit executives and business owners, but also millions of union workers with great healthcare plans which their unions bargained for, in place of larger wage increases. Second, there is a lot more money needed, which means a lot more unpopular new and increased taxes, if employer-provided plans disappear, since employers now spend a humongous amount on health insurance.
Honestly, I don't see what Bernie/Elizabeth are afraid of. If Medicare For All is really as great as they say/think it is, then most Americans will choose the government option under Medicare and private insurance will gradually wither away, except for those with truly great coverage. I also think Biden's plan implements quicker. Bernie, Elizabeth, or both were talking about a 10-year phase-in period. If Dems learned anything from the woes of Obamacare, it should be that lengthy phase-in periods allow a long period of political sabotage to destroy the new system, before it is fully established and it has achieved enough vested-self-interest buy-in to be as politically secure as Social Security and Medicare are today.
jBernie's system may lead to an insolvent Medicare. There are already fiscal issues looming for Medicare and Bernie proposes to do away with all co-pays and add glasses, hearing aids, and (I think) dental. This could very well end badly. Other countries are starving their government-run healthcare systems to avoid raising taxes. In this country, we see states cutting back on their commitment to public and post-secondary education to avoid tax increases. I see a surviving private insurance residual system, perhaps to provide what those with Cadillac plans now have which Medicare For All won't provide, especially in future, for those of us who want coverage for newer pharmaceuticals/medical procedures which current or future Medicare regulations won't cover.
Frankly, as I listened to the debates, I thought that Bernie's and Elizabeth's problem had more to do with the possibility that remnants of the insurance industry would have a chance to survive under Biden's plan, rather than that Americans would be worse off under Biden's plan.
I don't see Medicare For All, which covers illegal immigrants, as politically saleable. There will be a lot of defections by moderate Dems, which will endanger the larger pieces of healthcare/insurance reform. As one liberal columnist (whose name I have unfortunately forgotten) commented with regard to illegal immigrants: health clinics are saleable; inclusion in Medicare For All is not.
Let's not let the pie-in-the-sky, possibly excellent, destroy the possibility of adopting and maintaining the possible very good. If Bernie's plan is adopted, I fear Ds lose the House and the possibly-regained Senate in 2022, the presidency in 2024, and that all of Medicare For All is swept away by 2024. I see that approach as stupid politics and dumb social policy.