Democrats propose making Medicare available to more people

Four Democrats just rolled out a bill that would let anyone over age 50 buy their health insurance through Medicare. Here's what you need to know:

• The bill: The measure would let people ages 50 to 65 buy a private plan through Medicare. People who qualify for insurance subsidies under the ACA would be able to use them to pay for the coverage.
• The goal: “What we find over and over again is that the people who are most likely to be paying higher premiums are people over 50,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), one of the bill’s sponsors, told Vox's Sarah Kliff. “This, to me, is a very important group of people to focus on as we expand affordable coverage.”
• The context: The bill follows a string of plans to expand access to public insurance, and is less progressive than proposals that would let people at any age to have the option of buying in to Medicare. But that might make it more popular with a broader range of people. A KFF poll last month found that 77 percent of U.S. adults supports a plan that would let adults ages 50 to 64 buy into Medicare.