Joe Lieberman Supported Expanding Medicare To 55-65-Year-Olds In 2000

Senator Joe Lieberman, whose vote is crucial to passing the Senate health care bill, already compromised because of Blue Dog Democrats, supported the very measure he now says he’s against when he was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000.  TPM unearthed an interview Lieberman gave after a town town meeting to the Bangor Daily News in 2000.

In an interview after the town meeting, Lieberman said that health care changes can only come incrementally, which is why the Democratic ticket hasn’t proposed an overhaul of the system. “The kinds of proposals that Al Gore and I are making are the result of what we learned over the last eight years, and they’re designed to be acceptable to both parties in Congress,” he said.

“It may not be a neat one size does it all,” Lieberman said.

He said during the interview that the fastest growing group of uninsured are those 55 to 65. For that reason, the ticket proposes an expansion of Medicare to allow those and older to buy into the public program. There would still be a buy-in price but it would be less than buying private insurance, he said.

And in an interview just this past September in the Connecticut Post, he discussed expanding coverage without a public option:

As to how 47 million uninsured will afford coverage, Lieberman said only 12 million don’t have insurance because they cannot afford it. By allowing citizens who are not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid to buy in for a rate below the private market, the government can extend coverage to more of those who are currently uninsured, he said.

So when did Joe Lieberman stop being Joe Lieberman?

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.