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President Biden
Joe BidenHow ‘Buy American’, other pro-US policies can help advocates pass ambitious climate policies Overnight Defense & National Security — Presented by Raytheon Technologies — Biden backtracks on Taiwan Photos of the Week: Manchin protestor, Paris Hilton and a mirror room MORE said Thursday that expanding Medicare to include hearing, dental and vision benefits would be a “reach” amid ongoing negotiations with Democrats over his sweeping economic agenda.
During a CNN town hall, Biden told anchor Anderson Cooper that Sens. Joe Manchin
Joe ManchinHow ‘Buy American’, other pro-US policies can help advocates pass ambitious climate policies Photos of the Week: Manchin protestor, Paris Hilton and a mirror room Overnight Energy & Environment — Presented by the American Petroleum Institute — Biden seeks to quell concerns over climate proposals MORE (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema
Kyrsten SinemaBiden injects new momentum into filibuster fight On The Money — Democrats confident cuts won’t water down bill Sinema’s office outlines opposition to tax rate hikes MORE (D-Ariz.) — two key moderates at the center of ongoing negotiations about how to scale back Democrats’ reconciliation bill — are opposed to the expansion.
“That’s a reach and the reason why it’s a reach — I think it’s a good idea and it’s not that costly in relative terms especially if you allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices,” Biden said. “But here’s the thing — Mr. Manchin is opposed to that as is, I think, Sen. Sinema.”
Biden explained Manchin’s opposition by saying he “doesn’t want to further burden Medicare … because it will run out of its ability to maintain itself in X number of years.”
“Look, Joe’s not a bad guy. He’s a friend and he’s always at the end of the day come around and voted,” Biden said.
The president said there have been related discussions about potentially giving recipients a $800 voucher for dental work, but he said there has been less consensus on vision coverage.
Democrats have been wrangling over competing health care proposals as they look to scale back the sweeping spending package so that the price tag comes down from $3.5 trillion. Biden suggested in private meetings with lawmakers earlier this week that the final compromise bill would need to be around $2 trillion.
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Bernie SandersOvernight Health Care — Presented by Carequest — Study finds Pfizer vaccine almost 91 percent effective for 5 to 11 year olds The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Uber – Manchin, Sanders in budget feud; Biden still upbeat Democratic frustration with Sinema rises MORE (I-Vt.) has been pushing for expanding Medicare to include hearing, dental and vision benefits and has called the provisions non-negotiable. Democrats are also discussing proposals that would expand coverage under Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
Still, Biden expressed optimism about the prospect of a deal on a compromise package, though he wouldn’t predict when lawmakers and the White House would settle on an agreement. There was hope earlier this week that a breakthrough could be reached by the end of the week, but that seems unlikely as of Thursday.
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