Ryan says ‘Medicare for all’ shows Democratic party has ‘gone off the rails’

The embrace of “Medicare for all” shows that the Democratic party has “gone off the rails,” Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Monday.

In a speech at the National Press Club, Ryan warned that the plan favored by “the Left” would result in Americans having no choice about the cost or coverage of their health insurance.

{mosads}“Democrats propose to abolish our health-care system as we know it,” Ryan said. “And it is the best representation of how far today’s Democratic Party has gone off the rails.”

Ryan said Medicare for all would completely end private insurance, including for the roughly 180 million Americans who count on coverage through their employer.

“Everyone — no matter how much you like your plan — would have their plan taken away,” Ryan said. “The only way to control costs would be to ration care, and restrict access to doctors and treatments. All of these decisions would be made in Washington.”

Medicare for all has become increasingly popular among Democrats and is now favored by many of the party’s potential 2020 presidential candidates.

However, many congressional Democrats have yet to completely embrace the idea, and while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has sponsored a Medicare for all bill, there’s no real push for it in Congress.

Republicans have been pointing to Democratic calls for single-payer insurance as a key rebuttal in this year’s midterm campaign, part of an effort to push back against Democratic attacks on GOP bills to repeal ObamaCare.

Top Trump administration health officials have also been taking shots at Medicare for all. In a speech in September, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar dismissed Medicare for all as a promise that’s too good to be true.

In July, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma called it socialized medicine that would put seniors at risk.