Bernie Sanders And Ted Cruz To Debate Obamacare On February 7 On CNN

Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz are set to debate what the future of healthcare should look like in America on CNN on February 7 at 9 p.m. EST. The 90-minute debate between the pair will focus on the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, reports Business Insider.

On Wednesday, CNN made the announcement that a town hall-style debate would be held between Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz, who are both former presidential candidates. Jake Tapper and Diana Bash will be moderating the debate, which is to be held at George Washington University.

While Republicans are taking steps to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, the Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz debate will seek to discuss what healthcare, in their opinions, should be in the United States. President Donald Trump has already signed an executive action which is meant to “ease the burden of Obamacare.”

While no real details have been forthcoming about this executive action, which Donald Trump signed on his second day in office, there are a few paths that his administration could take if they choose to undermine the current law. This could happen by the Trump administration giving government agencies the ability to either defend or enforce Obamacare.

Vox reports that Bernie Sanders is concerned about the idea of Republicans repealing the Affordable Care Act, and Sanders has already spoken at length about what this could mean for Americans that are currently relying on this program, especially if there is no plan to replace Obamacare with an alternative solution.

“I know I speak for virtually all Democrats in saying that we have deep concern about the Republican proposal, which would repeal the Affordable Care Act without having any alternative plan in place. And we think the idea of throwing some 30 million Americans off of the health insurance that they have, significantly reducing funding for Medicaid, which will not only be very problematic for lower-income people, but also impact middle-class people who depend on Medicaid to help pay for the nursing home care their parents get.”

We’re the only major country that doesn’t guarantee health care for all as a right. Yet, we also spend far more per capita on health care.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 26, 2017

Some Republicans are apparently nervous about their party’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as evidenced by leaked audio which was was recorded at a retreat in Philadelphia recently. Both Senators and House members voiced concerns about how they could find a way to come up with a replacement plan which would be able to be implemented at the same time that the Affordable Care Act is repealed, as Business Insider has stated. Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz may be addressing this issue of a replacement plan during their debate.

Ted Cruz has been very vocal about about being an opponent of Obamacare, especially once he joined the Senate. In 2013, he engineered a shut down of the federal government to try to defund the Affordable Care Act, and he also vigorously campaigned against it during the 2016 Republican presidential primary.

While Bernie Sanders hasn’t necessarily been a huge supporter of Obamacare, as shown when he called it a “good Republican program,” this is mainly due to the fact that he feels that the Affordable Care Act didn’t go far enough when it came to lowering the cost of healthcare or taking care of Americans who are uninsured. This is another area that may be discussed during the Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz debate on Tuesday, especially given Bernie’s support for a single-payer healthcare system.

What do you think will come out of the Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz debate on February 7, and which issues would you most like to see addressed?

[Featured Image by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]