Presidential candidate Joe Biden claimed in Wednesday night’s debate: “A hundred and sixty million people like their private insurance. … The fact is that right now the vast majority of Democrats do not support Medicare for All.”

National Nurses United blasted the claims, saying they “couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Last year, The Hill reported: “The Reuters-Ipsos survey found 85 percent of Democrats said they support the policy.”

The Boston Globe noted Wednesday night that Biden’s “statement is at odds with a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, which found that 77 percent of [Democrats] support Medicare for All.”

National Nurses United added in their statement, which was sent to grassroots activists Wednesday night in response to the debate: “The Medicare for All Act of 2019 has 119 cosponsors — majority support of Democrats in the House. … Bernie said it best: ‘We have a system where we spend twice as much on health care as any other country, but we have 80 million uninsured and underinsured. … 500,000 people go bankrupt because of medical-related issues.’ Defending the status quo isn’t going to solve this crisis. Defeatist attitudes and right-wing, Big Pharma-funded talking points won’t win the transformational change we need.”

Contact: Chuck Idelson with National Nurses United at CIdelson@calnurses.org.