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Sen. Bernie Sanders' tax and spending proposals would provide new levels of health and education benefits for American families, but they'd also blow an $18-trillion hole in federal deficits, piling on so much debt they would damage the economy. That sobering assessment comes from a joint analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute Health Policy Center, well-known Washington think tanks. Democratic presidential candidate Sanders would raise taxes by more than $15 trillion over 10 years, with most of that paid by upper-income earners. But that wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of his proposed government-run health care system. (5/9)

Another analysis has found that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' ambitious Medicare-for-all plan would not come close to raising enough revenue to pay for itself. The analysis by the Urban Institute's Health Policy Center and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center found that federal expenditures under Sanders' plan would increase by $32 trillion from 2017 to 2026 while his revenue proposals would raise $15.3 trillion in the same time period. Both organizations are bipartisan. (Muchmore, 5/9)

The Tax Policy Center got it “half right,” a Sanders aide said in a statement. While the analysis found Sanders' plan would help low- and middle-income people even more than the campaign estimated, Warren Gunnels said the center “wildly exaggerated” the cost of Sanders’ health care plans. “This study significantly understates the savings in administration, paperwork, and prescription drug prices that every major country on earth has successfully achieved by adopting a universal health care program,” said Gunnells, Sanders’ policy director. “If every other major country can spend less on health care and insure all of their people, so can the U.S.” (Faler, 5/9)

At a campaign stop Monday in Northern Virginia, Hillary Clinton reiterated her support for a government-run health plan in the insurance market, possibly by letting let Americans buy into Medicare, to stem the rise of health-care costs. ... While Clinton long has supported including a public option in the insurance market, her campaign said she was floating the idea of letting Americans not yet of retirement age buy into the Medicare system as one way of accomplishing that. She's also open to creating a separate government-run option on the Obamacare exchanges. (Kapur, 5/9)

“Secretary Clinton’s proposal to let the American people buy into Medicare is a step in the right direction, but just like her support for a $12 minimum wage, it is not good enough,” Bernie Sanders says in statement to Bloomberg Politics. (Kapur, 5/9)

A Donald Trump administration is likely to prove as unorthodox as his campaign — and that extends to the health care realm. The presumptive GOP nominee has not named any advisers with notable health care policy experience, and few names have emerged as possible picks for top administration jobs — and some wouldn't want to serve a President Trump. But a few names are being floated as potential HHS secretary — particularly Ben Carson, given his medical pedigree and strong support for Trump. The other names in the ether: Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who rose to prominence as CEO of hospital chain Columbia/HCA, and former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who held a top HHS post in the administration of George W. Bush and who was a sworn enemy of Obamacare while he was governor. All three have expressed support for Trump now that he's the presumptive nominee. (Demko, 5/9)