--- title: Democratic Debate: Sanders and Clinton Spar on Health Care description: Bernie Sanders forced Hillary Clinton into a full-throated defense of the Affordable Care Act during the fourth Democratic debate. canonical: https://time.com/4183990/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-obamacare/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-18T03:06:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:12:33.115Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sanders Forces Clinton Into Strong Defense of Obamacare og:description: "I don't want to see us start over again with a contentious debate," Clinton said og:url: https://time.com/4183990/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-obamacare/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta89b84539114c11e/69887980cf40a87fb1c4184c/democratic-debate-clinton-sanders.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, right, speaks, as Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton listens, at the NBC, YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016, in Charleston, S og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sanders Forces Clinton Into Strong Defense of Obamacare twitter:description: "I don't want to see us start over again with a contentious debate," Clinton said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta89b84539114c11e/69887980cf40a87fb1c4184c/democratic-debate-clinton-sanders.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sanders Forces Clinton Into Strong Defense of Obamacare  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 18, 2016 3:06 AM UTC  Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders during the NBC - YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C. on Jan. 17, 2016. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders during the NBC - YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C. on Jan. 17, 2016.Stephen B. Morton—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 18, 2016 3:06 AM UTC [Bernie Sanders](http://time.com/4183979/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-criminal-justice-wall-street/) forced Hillary Clinton into a full-throated defense of the Affordable Care Act during the [Democratic debate](http://time.com/4181009/democratic-debate-watch-live-stream-free-online/) Sunday night, as they [sparred on health care and Democratic ideals](http://time.com/4183625/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/). Clinton was asked about Sanders’ “Medicare for all” health care proposal. She responded by saying she thinks it’s a smarter tactic to stick with the Affordable Care Act. “Here’s what I believe,” the former Secretary of State said. “The Democratic Party in the United States worked since Harry Truman to get the Affordable Care Act passed. We finally have a path to universal health care. We’ve accomplished so much already, I do not want to see the Republicans repeal it, and I don’t want to see us start over again with a contentious debate. I want us to defend and build on the Affordable Care Act and improve it.” Sanders also used Truman and the history of liberal values in the country in his response. “What a Medicare-for-all program does is finally provide in this country health care for every man woman and child as a right,” the Vermont Senator said. “Now, the truth is that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman … they believed that health care should be available to all of our people. I’m on the committee that wrote the Affordable Care Act … I voted for it. But right now what we have to deal with is the fact that 29 million people still have no health insurance. We are paying the highest price in the world for prescription drugs, getting ripped off. And here’s the important point: we are spending far more per person on health care than the people of any other country.” But Clinton didn’t give any ground on her view that the Affordable Care Act itself is the best realization of liberalism, rather than Sanders’ more radical idea. “We have the Affordable Care Act,” she said. “That is one of the greatest accomplishments of President Obama, of the Democratic Party and of our country.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4183990/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-obamacare/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4183990/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-obamacare/"},"headline":"Sanders Forces Clinton Into Strong Defense of Obamacare","datePublished":"2016-01-18T03:06:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:12:33.115Z","description":"\"I don't want to see us start over again with a contentious debate,\" Clinton said","url":"https://time.com/4183990/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-obamacare/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","Bernie Sanders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta89b84539114c11e/69887980cf40a87fb1c4184c/democratic-debate-clinton-sanders.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta89b84539114c11e/69887980cf40a87fb1c4184c/democratic-debate-clinton-sanders.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. 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