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2020 presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren defends her transition period to Medicare for All, refusing to say directly whether most private insurance would be illegal by the end of her first term under her plan. (1/5)

Elizabeth Warren said Saturday that a big change in the U.S. health-care system would make a lot of people “uneasy,” emphasizing she wouldn’t immediately push a full Medicare for All plan until people have three years to try it. At a town hall in Manchester, Iowa, one voter asked Warren why her Medicare for All plan would take three years to implement rather than putting it in place right away. She said the phase in would give her administration enough time to secure the congressional votes she would need to enact it and give people time to try it out. (Egkolfopoulou, 1/4)

Expect to hear a lot about health care in 2020 from Democratic congressional candidates in Kansas and Missouri, but don’t expect them to have the same message as their party’s most progressive presidential contenders. Democrats captured a House majority in 2018 with a message focused on health care. In 2020, the party looks to retain those seats and continue its expansion into once solidly-Republican suburban districts now trending blue. (Lowry and Hancock, 1/6)

Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: How Do Other Countries Pay For Health Care?

Many proponents of creating a “Medicare for All” system in the United States say it would make this country more like other industrialized nations. But, in fact, other countries structure their systems in a wide variety of ways. Some have a Medicare for All-type system, with private providers and public payment. But some systems are closer to government-run, while others include large roles for private insurance. (1/2)

Experts predict a large number of women will again run for office in 2020 like they did in 2018, and child care remains a hurdle for many of them. A congressional candidate in New York successfully petitioned the Federal Election Commission in 2018 to allow campaign money to help cover child care costs. But it applies only to those running for federal office. That leaves women in many states who are running for the Legislature, statewide positions like attorney general or local offices to find another way to pay for child care as they campaign, which often requires night and weekend work. (Whitehurst and Cassidy, 1/1)