Medicare, Obamacare, vaping, vaccines and virtual healthcare are expected to be among the top health-related issues in 2020. Ani Kolleshi / Unsplash
By Roz Plater
It's 2020 and another year of health-related topics awaits us.
<p>What health issues will take priority? What buzzwords will we all be talking about? How might technology change healthcare?</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><a href="https://www.healthline.com/" target="_blank"><em>Healthline</em></a><em>. For detailed source information, please view the original article on <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-will-be-the-top-health-issues-for-2020#Vaping" target="_blank">Healthline</a></em><em>.</em></p>
<p>We asked some experts to peek into their crystal balls and make a few predictions.</p><p>They tell us that how you get access to healthcare and how you pay for it will both be hot topics this presidential election year.</p><p>In fact, one expert says healthcare could help decide political winners and losers.</p><p>"Whoever comes up with a plan that will work, is affordable, and something people can understand, that will push them ahead," said <a href="https://www.merritthawkins.com/why-merritt-hawkins/who-we-are/leadership/" target="_blank">Kurt Mosley</a>, vice president of strategic alliances for Merritt Hawkins, a physician search, consulting, and research firm.</p>
Medicare
<p>Medicare is front and center as we kick off 2020.</p><p>That's in part because "<a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/what-medicare-for-all-would-look-like-in-america" target="_blank">Medicare for All</a>" is the single payer option health plan being touted by two of the top Democratic presidential candidates.</p><p><a href="https://www.forrester.com/Jeff-Becker" target="_blank">Jeff Becker</a>, the senior analyst for healthcare strategy at Forrester Research says there are also a number of bills in Congress looking to expand access to Medicare as a public option.</p><p>"When you look at the polling numbers, our call is that Medicare for All will die in the court of public opinion and become Medicare Advantage for more," Becker told Healthline.</p>Affordable Care Act
<p>The <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/consumer-healthcare-guide/pros-and-cons-obamacare" target="_blank">Affordable Care Act (ACA)</a>, often referred to as Obamacare, will be in the courts again this year.</p><p>In December, a federal appeals court <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/18/-.html" target="_blank">ruled</a> that the health insurance law's individual mandate provision was unconstitutional.</p><p>However, the justices sent back to a federal district court in Texas the issue of whether other parts of the law could continue to exist without the mandate that requires everyone to have health insurance.</p><p>Look for some sort of Obamacare case to wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court this year.</p><p>"Our call is whether or not it goes to the Supreme Court, the ACA will survive because the individual mandate is severable," Becker told Healthline.</p>Price Transparency
<p>Experts say you'll hear a lot of debate about price transparency, a move designed to increase competition and lower costs.</p><p>President Trump <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2019/11/15/trump-administration-announces-historic-price-transparency-and-lower-healthcare-costs-for-all-americans.html?amp" target="_blank">signed an executive order</a> in November that requires hospitals and insurers to publish their confidential, negotiated rates for treatments.</p><p>"The reason this would be important is you'd be able to figure out what your out-of-pocket expenses would be" said Becker.</p><p>But a coalition of hospital groups has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-us-hospitals/hospital-groups-file-lawsuit-to-block-trumps-price-transparency-rule-idUSKBN1Y81YY" target="_blank">filed a lawsuit</a> to block the rule. They argue that the public disclosure of negotiated charges would create confusion about consumers' out-of-pocket costs.</p><p>The order is scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2021.</p>Lower Prescription Drug Prices
<p>"The thing about pharmaceuticals is, if you can't afford them, they don't work," Mosley said.</p><p>He predicts the move to lower the costs of prescription drugs will again be on the front burner of the healthcare debate in 2020.</p><p>"The problem is Medicare and Medicaid can't negotiate prices with these drug companies," Mosley told Healthline.</p><p>The House of Representatives has <a href="https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2019/house-passes-drug-price-bill.html" target="_blank">approved a bill</a> that would do just that. The legislation also caps out-of-pocket expenses for people enrolled in Medicare Part D.</p><p>However, the prognosis for this bill becoming law isn't good.</p><p>Political observers say the legislation won't go anywhere in the Senate, and the White House has indicated the president would veto it.</p><p>Republicans in the Senate have <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/11/11/mcconnell-pelosi-clash-over-drug-price-bill-congress-act/2558426001/" target="_blank">crafted</a> their own prescription drug price plan. The president has indicated he would sign this bill, but it would need to be approved by the Democrat-controlled House.</p>Access to Health Services
<p>"One of the cross-cutting issues we see as a priority in 2020 is the social determinants in health disparities in our patients," said <a href="https://www.aafp.org/media-center/releases-statements/all/2013/amy-mullins-medical-director.html" target="_blank">Amy Mullins</a>, MD, FAAFP, medical director for quality improvement for the American Academy of Family Physicians.</p><p>"Patients need more than just access to a physician," she told Healthline. "They need access to good food, safe places to live, to exercise, transportation, community resources, access to medication."</p><p>"If you don't address those, it's really difficult to treat your patients effectively," she added.</p><p>Mullins says her group has an internal division called the Center for Diversity and Health Equity whose mission is to look at healthcare through that lens.</p>Vaccine Hesitancy
<p>Mullins also says the issue of vaccine myths is one you'll continue to hear about in 2020.</p><p>"We want to do more to counter the misinformation that's out there around vaccines that may be holding some people back from getting what they need," said Mullins.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X1931446X?via%3Dihub" target="_blank">recent study</a> concluded that a lot of the false information is being spread on social media by a handful of anti-vaccine ad buyers.</p><p>"We're promoting vaccine education to physicians, their healthcare teams, patients, and communities" Mullins said.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20191212.484779/full/" target="_blank">2020 National Vaccine Plan</a> is currently being developed by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy.</p>Vaping
<p>"Another of the big priorities for health providers in 2020 is vaping and e-cigarettes," Mullins said.</p><p>"We really applaud and support the work the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration is doing to try and get a handle on this crisis," she said. "But these products target adolescents and we think the marketing needs more regulation."</p><p>A <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/news-releases/2019/12/vaping-marijuana-rise-among-teens" target="_blank">study</a> released last month from the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that more teens are vaping marijuana.</p><p>That's despite a lung illness linked to vaping that's killed <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html" target="_blank">more than 50 people</a> nationwide.</p>Virtual Care Visits
<p>On the digital front, Becker predicts there will be aggressive growth in virtual care visits.</p><p>That's where you interact with your doctor via text, video, or phone call.</p><p>Becker's group crunched the numbers after looking at outpatient visit data as well as talking to virtual vendors and tracking healthcare investments.</p><p>"The result was 36 million net new virtual care visits in 2020," he said.</p><p>He points to how employers and insurers are already embracing the concept. Amazon recently launched a pilot program called "<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/09/24/amazon-launches-employee-health-clinic-amazon-care.html" target="_blank">Amazon Care</a>," a virtual clinic for its employees in Seattle.</p><p>Walmart recently expanded its <a href="https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/walmart-expands-telehealth-services-for-employees-in-3-states" target="_blank">telehealth services</a> to workers in Colorado, Minnesota, and Wisconsin with $4 online or video care visits.</p><p>Humana has <a href="https://medcitynews.com/2019/04/humana-and-doctor-on-demand-launch-new-virtual-primary-care-health-plan/" target="_blank">teamed up</a> with "Doctor on Demand" to offer a virtual primary care plan at significantly lower monthly premiums.</p><p>"Everybody is moving toward a model where we're not using high-cost care centers like emergency rooms," Becker said.</p><p>"And consumers are demanding more cost effective services, too," he added. "In 2018, consumers took out <a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/americans-borrowed-usd88-billion-for-health-expenses-in-2018.html" target="_blank">$88 billion</a> in personal loans just to pay for out-of-pocket medical costs."</p>From Your Site Articles
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Aerial assessment of Hurricane Sandy damage in Connecticut. Dannel Malloy / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Extreme weather events supercharged by climate change in 2012 led to nearly 1,000 more deaths, more than 20,000 additional hospitalizations, and cost the U.S. healthcare system $10 billion, a new report finds.
<p>The study, published Tuesday in the journal GeoHealth, looks at the health impacts of 10 climate-related events across 11 states that year, including Superstorm Sandy, Lyme disease outbreaks in Michigan, extreme heat in Wisconsin, and wildfires in Colorado. Two-thirds of the costs from these events were paid for by Medicare and Medicaid. </p><p>"There is a real cost in terms of human health," study author Wendy Max told reporters Wednesday. "Our study is the first to put a price tag on these costs, [but] this is just the tip of the iceberg—we know this is an underestimate." (</p><p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong> </p><p><a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=11abece965&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">Earther</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=0be8bd3d03&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">NJ Spotlight</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=364dea14c6&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">Bloomberg Quint</a>, <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=237d69fda3&e=0afd421a28" target="_blank">Carbon Brief, Vijay Limaye and Wendy Max analysis</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank">Twitter</a> </em><em>and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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Democratic Candidates Spent 13 Minutes on Climate Change in Second Presidential Debate
01 August 2019
Politics
NPR / YouTube screenshot
Democratic presidential candidates spent 13 minutes on climate change in the second presidential debate Wednesday evening in Detroit — one more minute than the 12 spent on Tuesday evening, according to a Washington Post tally.
<p><br/></p>
<p>Washington governor Jay Inslee, whose campaign has centered around the issue, kicked off the discussion by centering climate change as "all the issues that we Democrats care about. It is health. It is national security. It is our economy." Sen. Cory Booker (NJ) joined Inslee in targeting former Vice President Joe Biden's plan to continue <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" rel="noopener noreferrer">fossil fuel</a> use and Booker calling out Biden's brag that he will rejoin the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paris agreement</a>. "Nobody should get applause for rejoining the Paris climate accords," Booker said. "That is kindergarten." As Robinson Meyer writes in The Atlantic, tech mogul Andrew Yang's argument that a universal basic income is the best way to mitigate climate impacts "is not a good response to losing your house to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" rel="noopener noreferrer">higher sea levels</a>."</p>
<p>As reported by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/pretty-good-democratic-debate-about-climate-change/595276/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Atlantic</a>:</p><blockquote>Climate change is a sprawling, scary, cinematic problem, and its remedies involve the less-than-inspiring technical undergirding of society: <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/08/why-cities-flood/538251/" target="_blank">stormwater management</a>, the electrical grid, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/12/ocasio-cortez-green-new-deal-winning-climate-strategy/576514/" target="_blank">dirt</a>. And dirt management will never be as engrossing as, say, Medicare for All. The party may also benefit, in a sort of shallow but undeniable way, from its monopoly on climate concern. Since any Democrat would do more to fight climate change than the current president, what's the point of airing dirty laundry about it in public?</blockquote><blockquote>"We have all put out highly similar visions on climate," South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said on Tuesday night. "We will deal with climate if and only if we win the presidency."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A new poll shows that 96% of Democratic voters want leaders to prioritize climate action and 91% want universal health care like <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MedicareForAll?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MedicareForAll</a>! The people want bold ideas to solve our toughest problems, which is why so many progressives won in 2018! <a href="https://t.co/nLbG4SMgm6">https://t.co/nLbG4SMgm6</a></p>— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) <a href="https://twitter.com/PramilaJayapal/status/1123633574161334272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/08/01/more-electability-than-foreign-policy-second-debate-topics-by-numbers/?utm_term=.46407b9751a0" target="_blank">Washington Post</a>, <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/08/joe-bidens-climate-plan-melted-during-the-debate/" target="_blank">Mother Jones</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/31/20749498/democratic-debate-climate-change-cory-booker-paris" target="_blank">Vox</a>, <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/inslee-preaches-climate-change-at-latest-democratic-debate-gets-big-reaction" target="_blank">KOMO</a>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/pretty-good-democratic-debate-about-climate-change/595276/" target="_blank">The Atlantic</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/here-s-why-democrats-debate-over-issues-mattered-n1038051" target="_blank">NBC</a>, <a href="https://theweek.com/articles/856262/jay-inslee-just-wants-save-world-from-climate-change" target="_blank">The Week</a>. Commentary: <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/andrew-yangs-horrific-debate-answer-climate-change/595267/" target="_blank">The Atlantic, Robinson Meyer analysis</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/31/opinions/jay-inslee-2020-witnessed-climate-change-devastation/index.html" target="_blank">CNN, Jay Inslee op-ed</a>)<br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank">Twitter</a> </em><em>and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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People in New York City participated in a protest with climate activist group Extinction Rebellion on April 17. Stephanie Keith / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
The global climate crisis and Medicare for All are top issues for a large majority of Democratic voters, according to new polling results published Tuesday by CNN.
<p>The <a href="http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/04/29/rel6a.-.2020.democrats.pdf" target="_blank">survey</a>, conducted last week, asked Democrats and left-leaning Independents how important they considered certain policy items.</p>
<p>Most people polled said it is somewhat or very important that the Democratic candidate for president in 2020 support party priorities like stricter gun laws, tuition-free public college, impeaching President Donald Trump, paying reparations to slaves' descendants, and restoring voting rights for all convicted felons.</p><p>But two issues stood out at the top.</p><p>Ninety-six percent of respondents want whichever Democrat runs for the White House to support "taking aggressive action to slow the effects of climate change."</p><p>In the second spot, 91 percent want the candidate to back "providing health insurance for all Americans through the government, a plan sometimes called 'Medicare for All.'"</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTQzNjE2OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjQxNzY1N30.YlDJq58MMlhFun75Ujg00x9Y4TeT9ZcaExyAavpqX38/img.jpg?width=980" id="74b15" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dc263028bd1b84ab70f863df9d1fbb89" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Advocates for bold and urgent climate action celebrated the polling results, which Dan Fagin, who directs the Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) at New York University, <a href="https://twitter.com/danfagin/status/1123300378362228736" target="_blank">called</a> "truly astonishing, and very encouraging."</p><p>"People are waking up!" <a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/1123253052633276416" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org.</p><p>The CNN survey follows recent polling that showed Americans <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/22/americans-increasingly-bear-real-costs-climate-crisis-polls-show-soaring-realization" target="_blank">are increasingly worried</a> about the consequences of the human-caused climate crisis. Some observers Tuesday <a href="https://twitter.com/drvox/status/1123276748664082432" target="_blank">credited</a> activists and politicians such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) for elevating the issue. Congress is considering the Green New Deal resolution, introduced in February by Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) — and the youth-led Sunrise Movement is in the middle of a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/18/warren-markey-and-pressley-join-launch-sunrise-movements-250-city-road-green-new" target="_blank">nationwide tour</a> to promote the measure.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a> poll out today. 82% of Dem voters say it's very important for Pres candidate to talk about aggressive climate action.<br><br>If politicians want to be taken seriously on it, they've got to back the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GreenNewDeal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GreenNewDeal</a> + sign <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoFossilFuelMoney?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NoFossilFuelMoney</a> pledge. <a href="https://t.co/VRWWCGs7oK">pic.twitter.com/VRWWCGs7oK</a></p>— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) <a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/status/1123227357375082496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>CNN's poll also comes amid mounting demands for the federal government to scrap the current healthcare system that prioritizes corporate profits over patients, and establish in its place a nationwide single-payer system. As the results were published Tuesday, the Democratically controlled House Rules Committee <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/30/stop-what-youre-doing-and-watch-applause-and-gratitude-ady-barkans-emotional" target="_blank">held</a> an historic hearing about the Medicare for All Act of 2019, which was introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and is now backed by more than 100 other House Democrats.</p><p>The survey was not solely focused on policy. It also asked respondents which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/us/politics/2020-presidential-candidates.html" target="_blank">candidates</a> for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary they want to receive the nomination. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said former Vice President Joe Biden; 15 percent said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); 8 percent said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.); 7 percent said Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana; 6 percent said former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke; and 5 percent said Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.).</p><p>Some critics <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanChariton/status/1123304795727638528" target="_blank">challenged</a> the accuracy of the polling results — particularly regarding which candidates have the greatest support among voters — because of its "undersampling" of people aged 18 to 49.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yale Poll: Climate Change ‘Personally Important’ to Record Number of Americans <a href="https://t.co/NXwcOFkEgD">https://t.co/NXwcOFkEgD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Extremeweather?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Extremeweather</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Wildfires?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Wildfires</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hurricanes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Hurricanes</a> <a href="https://t.co/n9NY1q8YZF">pic.twitter.com/n9NY1q8YZF</a></p>— Renewable Search (@RenewableSearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RenewableSearch/status/1088063833711624192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/30/more-90-democratic-voters-want-2020-candidate-make-climate-action-and-medicare-all" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in South Carolina on Jan. 21. Sean Rayford / Getty Images
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Tuesday that he will run for president in 2020, becoming the latest candidate in a crowded Democratic primary field to promise a Green New Deal if elected, The Washington Post reported.
<p>"I'm running for president because we need to make policy decisions based on science, not politics," Sanders wrote in an email to supporters announcing his decision. "We need a president who understands that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> is real, is an existential threat to our country and the entire planet, and that we can generate massive job creation by transforming our energy system away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> to energy efficiency and sustainable energy."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1e60dafadc13bb7a6f6531fe5fbe1197"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s7DRwz0cAt0?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">I'm Running For President</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7DRwz0cAt0" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>In addition to a Green New Deal, Sanders is also running on a platform of Medicare for All, a $15-an-hour minimum wage, tuition-free college and university, criminal justice reform, paid family leave and gender pay equity and breaking up the largest Wall Street banks, among other proposals, aides to the senator told The Washington Post.<br></p><p>Sanders brought many of these ideas, including more aggressive climate action, to national attention when he ran against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary. However, since his first run, the ideas he championed have gained steam and many other 2020 Democratic candidates have embraced them, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/19/bernie-sanders-announces-2020-run-presidency" target="_blank">The Guardian noted</a>.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="09a17" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="RXS6151578068161"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1097870478293766145" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">2015: Bernie Sanders policy platform is naive, idealistic, not pragmatic, not realistic.
2019: Bernie Sanders poli… https://t.co/wLTputpma8</div> — Waleed Shahid (@Waleed Shahid)<a href="https://twitter.com/_waleedshahid/statuses/1097870478293766145">1550587694.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>His success may therefore hinge on whether or not he is still the best mouthpiece for the ideas he helped popularize, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/us/politics/bernie-sanders-2020.html" target="_blank">The New York Times explained</a>:<br></p><blockquote>Victories in the 2018 midterm election by women, minorities and first-time candidates also suggest that many Democrats may prefer fresh energy, something that skeptics believe Mr. Sanders could struggle to deliver. A 77-year-old whose left-wing message has remained largely unchanged in his decades-long career, Mr. Sanders will also need to improve his support from black voters and quell the unease about his campaign's treatment of women that has been disclosed in recent news accounts, and that has prompted two public apologies.</blockquote><p>When it comes to the environment specifically, 2020 contenders California Sen. Kamala Harris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro have voiced support for a Green New Deal.<br></p><p>However, Sanders' proposal will be slightly different from the Green New Deal resolution developed by Democratic Representative <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_self">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a>, who <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/27/politics/who-is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/index.html" target="_blank">worked as an organizer</a> for Sanders' 2016 primary campaign. Sanders' full plan should be released in the next few months, The Washington Post reported, explaining the difference between the two: </p><blockquote>The upcoming Sanders plan is expected to contain significantly more details on how a Green New Deal would move America's economy to one that zeroes out carbon emissions, according to aides to the Senator, while the Ocasio-Cortez resolution supported by the other 2020 candidates mostly laid out ambitious targets for carbon reduction.</blockquote><p>In 2016, Sanders promoted a carbon tax and a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/07/bernie-sanders-urges-carbon-tax-and-deeper-emissions-cuts-in-climate-plan" target="_blank">The Guardian reported at the time</a>. </p><p>The re-election campaign for President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> is already planning to use the popularity of Sanders' democratic socialist platform as a rallying point, The Guardian reported.</p><p>"Bernie Sanders has already won the debate in the Democrat primary, because every candidate is embracing his brand of socialism," Trump 2020 campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement reported by The Guardian. "But the American people will reject an agenda of sky-high tax rates, government-run health care and coddling dictators like those in Venezuela. Only President Trump will keep America free, prosperous and safe."</p><p>Sanders, for his part, roundly criticized Trump in his announcement, calling him the "most dangerous president in modern history." However, Sanders also noted that his campaign was larger than defeating one person. </p><p>"Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice," he wrote.</p>
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