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Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, under pressure from the Clinton campaign to explain how he would pay for his progressive policies, unveiled a universal healthcare plan on Sunday night that includes sweeping tax increases and a drastic tax hike for the wealthiest. Ahead of a nationally televised Democratic presidential debate, Mr. Sanders said that his “Medicare-for-all” plan was in the spirit of Democratic presidents such as Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and projected that the health savings would outweigh the higher taxes that would pay for the plan. (Alcindor and Rappeport, 1/17)

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Sunday that he would pay for his plan for a single-payer health-care system with a suite of new taxes, including a 2.2% “premium” applied to all income, a new payroll tax paid by employers, and a variety of tax increases on the wealthiest Americans. The plan would increase government spending by a total of nearly $14 trillion over 10 years, the campaign said, and together with his other proposals, would bring federal spending to its highest level since World War II. (Meckler, 1/17)

His campaign said the plan would cost $1.38 trillion a year, but would save $6 trillion over the next decade compared to the current health care system, citing an analysis by Gerald Friedman, an economist at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. But much of the cost would be paid for through a 6.2 percent payroll tax paid by employers and a 2.2 percent "health care premium" on workers. It also relies on taxing capital gains and dividends on families earning more than $250,000 a year, eliminate deductions for wealthy Americans and raising the estate tax. The plan would also raise income taxes on Americans making more than $250,000 a year, including a top tax rate of 52 percent for those earning $10 million annually or more. (Thomas, 1/17)

Clinton's campaign had taken aim at Sanders in recent days, saying the U.S. senator from Vermont had not said how he plans to pay for his healthcare plan and that he needed to before the first party-nominating contest in Iowa on Feb. 1. (Becker, 1/17)

The plan also would be funded in part by an increase in estate taxes on wealthy Americans, as well as a change in the way capital gains and dividends are taxed, the senator said. Sanders has long argued that most families would pay substantially less out of pocket for health care under his approach. (Wagner, 1/17)

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Sunday evening unveiled details of his plan to move the country beyond the Affordable Care Act to a universal national health care program that would cost about $13.8 trillion over the coming decade and require a sweeping increase in taxes, especially for the wealthiest Americans. (Pianin, 1/18)