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Pelosi Guides House Democrats Down Careful ‘Medicare for All’ Path

  • Leaders put divisive health legislation on slow track for now
  • Moderates see political risks in idea lighting up party base
Nancy Pelosi, center, during an event on protecting the Affordable Care Act outside the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., on April 2.

Nancy Pelosi, center, during an event on protecting the Affordable Care Act outside the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., on April 2.

Photographer: Anna Moneymaker/Bloomberg

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is guiding House Democrats along a narrow path as she seeks to convince party progressives that the idea of providing Medicare for everyone in the U.S. is being taken seriously, while assuring moderates that the House won’t move too far, too fast.

The House on Tuesday will gavel in the first-ever hearing on a sweeping Medicare for All proposal, an idea that’s energized the Democratic left, which is pushing to make it a central part of the 2020 campaigns for the White House and Congress.