Don't Send Taxpayer Money to Insurance Companies

It was a "whoa!" moment for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Monday night when Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) said something about health care on which they both agree:

"The biggest winner under Obamacare is insurance companies, not patients, and I intend to change that," Graham told a CNN-sponsored town hall on health care.

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! I like that!" Sanders said, jumping to his feet.

Graham and Sanders agree that taxpayer dollars should not be enriching insurance companies, but that's where the agreement ends.

Sanders advocates a single-payer, Medicare-for-all system of health insurance, while Graham argued for his Republican plan to send Obamacare funds to the states in the form of block grants. Graham said that would improve accountability and encourage innovation.

Graham's plan is unlikely to pass, given the three Republicans who have said they will vote against it. Likewise, Sanders' plan will go nowhere in a Republican-led Congress.

The town hall debate shed no new light on the two sides' firmly held positions, but at least it allowed the Democrats and Republicans to argue their points civilly and publicly.

Here's one exchange between Graham and Sanders: