Biden clashes with Warren, Sanders on health care in 3rd Democratic debate

Democratic U.S. presidential front-runner Joe Biden clashed with progressive challengers Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on health care in a debate on Thursday, defending Obamacare and challenging them to be honest about the cost of their plans.

With the top 10 Democratic candidates sharing the debate stage for the first time in Houston, Texas, the contenders spent more time expressing their shared opposition to Republican President Donald Trump and pared back some of the bickering that marked the first two debates this summer.

But the Democrats quickly renewed their battle over health care, the issue that has ignited the most heated debates in the campaign for the party's nomination to face Trump in the November 2020 election.

Biden, who served as vice-president for eight years under Barack Obama, said he would build on his landmark health-care law, the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and accused Warren and Sanders of wanting to tear it down with Medicare for All, a government-run health-care plan that would eliminate private insurance.

"I know that the senator says she's for Bernie. Well I'm for Barack. I think Obamacare worked," Biden said, asking Warren and Sanders to explain how they would pay for their plans. "This is about candour, honesty, big ideas."

Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts who has moved into second behind Biden in many opinion polls of the Democratic race, praised Obama's health-care efforts but said more was needed.

Warren says wealthiest would pay more

"Now the question is how best can we improve on it," she said, adding that under Medicare for All, those at the top in terms of wealth would pay more but the middle class would pay less.

Sanders, who sponsored the Medicare for All plan in the U.S. Senate, said the program based on the existing government-run Medicare program for Americans 65 and older was the most cost-effective approach. Some analysts have estimated his plan would cost $32 trillion US over a decade.

Biden said his plan would give Americans more options, including staying with their plans if they like them.

"I've never actually met anybody who likes their health insurance company," Warren fired back.

Former U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro accused Biden of flip-flopping in his description of his own plan.

"Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago?" Castro, 44, asked Biden, 76, who is known for being prone to gaffes and has faced questions about his age.

When Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., noted the exchange was what people did not like about politicians, Castro shot back: "That's called an election."

Warning against 'a house divided'

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota also tried to calm things down, noting: "A house divided cannot stand," quoting from a famous speech by Abraham Lincoln.

The candidates made an effort to praise the legacy of Obama, after facing criticism from some Democrats after the last debate for attacking his policies on health care and immigration.

But Castro, who has lagged badly in opinion polls, accused Biden of being quick to tie himself to Obama when it suited him and walk away when it did not.

"He wants to take credit for Obama's work but not have to answer any questions," said Castro, who served in Obama's administration.

The debate was narrowed to one night and 10 candidates after the party toughened the requirements for qualifying. The previous two Democratic debates in June and July were split over two nights.

Yang's cash giveaway called 'freedom dividend'

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who has spent much of the campaign touting a plan for a universal basic income, opened the debate by promising to give $1,000 a month to 10 Americans for the next year, calling it a "freedom dividend." The offer drew laughs from a few other contenders. 

"It's original, I'll give you that," Buttigieg said.

The first two rounds of debates also were contentious, as Biden came under repeated attacks for his record on race and criminal justice reform and his views on health care.

O'Rourke's buyback for assault weapons

But this time, the candidates tried to emphasize their areas of agreement. Biden praised former U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke for his work after a mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso, Texas, drawing a sustained ovation from the debate crowd.

The sharp bickering during the first two rounds of the debates dismayed some Democrats, who have urged the candidates to rein in their attacks and focus on laying out their own affirmative agendas.

O'Rourke, who has called for gun licensing and a mandatory gun buyback for assault weapons, was asked if he was going to take away people's guns.

"I am if it was a weapon that was designed to kill people on a battlefield," he said. "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47."