Mucarsel-Powell supports Medicare for All, but now says its "not the time to discuss" it

In October 2019, Rep.Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) told The Floridian that she didn’t support the Progressive “Medicare for All” healthcare measure, stating that Americans were not ready for the healthcare initiative. 

Rep. Mucarsel-Powell was asked if she supported the “Medicare for All” legislature, but instead of saying she supported it, the freshman congresswoman said that now was “not the time to discuss” the measure, signaling that she was not in support of it, but rather continued her support for the Affordable Care Act.

Mucarsel-Powell reiterated her support for President Barack Obama’s legacy Affordable Care Act (ACA) legislation, but said that it needed to be fixed because it was unaffordable due to insurance premiums, deductible, and copayments being “so high.”

“People can’t get appointments with their doctors, and when they do, their premiums are so high, their copayments are so high, their deductibles are so high, that they can’t afford it,” said Mucarsel-Powell “Many people just wait, and then it’s too late.”

Just last month, Mucarsel-Powell told the Miami Herald that she wanted to expand the ACA, reiterating her opposition to Medicare for All.

“I support the Affordable Care Act and support expanding on it with a public option to make sure everyone has access,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “A public option will increase competition and lower premiums and, of course, people who already have health insurance should always be able to keep it.”

Mucarsel-Powell continues to say that she supports the ACA, but back in a 2018 interview with POLITICO, then-candidate Mucarsel-Powell stated, “I definitely think that we need to get there” when asked if she supported Medicare for All.

Reps. Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings, and Frederica Wilson are the only members of the Florida Democratic Caucus in the House to co-sponsor the Medicare for All legislation in the U.S. Congress.

Rep. Frankel is the only South Florida member of Congress who supports Medicare for all.

Reps. Ted Deutch, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Donna Shalala, all support the Affordable Care Act.