US presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has offered details on funding for her healthcare plan, which is expected to cost the federal government $20.5tn (£15.8tn) over 10 years. She said the “Medicare for All” plan would not raise taxes “one penny” for ordinary Americans, but be largely paid for by businesses and the wealthy.

Ms Warren is a Democratic front-runner in the 2020 race to the White House. She has faced criticism over lack of detail about her plan. Ms Warren said her plan would not spend “any more money overall than we spend now”, but the share spent by the federal government would increase to $20.5tn.

It would mandate that employers pay the government the same amount that they currently contribute for private health insurance for their employee. According to her campaign, the current US health system will cost $52tn over the next decade. Economists have estimated Medicare for All’s cost at between $13.5tn to $34tn in the same time frame.

“The $11tn in household insurance and out-of-pocket expenses projected under our current system goes right back into the pockets of America’s working people,” her plan states. “And we make up the difference with targeted spending cuts, new taxes on giant corporations and the richest 1% of Americans and by cracking down on tax evasion and fraud. Not one penny in middle-class tax increases.”(BBC)…[+]