Sanders focusing on ‘Medicare for All’ in South Carolina

FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) — Health care is the focus of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders’ second day of campaigning in the critical early-voting state of South Carolina.

The Vermont senator is in Florence on Friday for a town hall meeting on “Medicare for All.” His signature proposal would replace job-based and individual private health insurance with a government-run plan that guarantees coverage for all with no premiums, deductibles and only minimal copays for certain services.

Health care and how to reform the nation’s system is a critical debate among the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. It’s under intense focus in states like South Carolina, home to the first-in-the-South 2020 primary and among the Republican-led states that turned down Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, leaving thousands in a coverage gap.