Clinton also affirmed her commitment to giving Americans in every state the choice of a "public-option" insurance plan — which she supported during her 2008 presidential campaign and Sanders pushed for during the ACA debate — and allowing people below Medicare age to opt into the programby offering it to those who are 55 and older. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A trade deal fight led by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Saturday failed to fully materialize as rival and presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton announced a compromise to expand mandatory healthcare funding over the next decade. An hour after her health care announcement, Clinton's campaign announced firm details about her Tuesday campaign event in Portsmouth, N.H., where Sanders is expected to endorse his primary campaign rival. "Already, the Affordable Care Act has expanded coverage to 20 million Americans. He said Clinton's efforts to provide Americans with the choice of a public-option insurance plan and to expand Medicare "will get us closer to the day when everyone in America has access to quality, affordable health care.” 
 
 Clinton's announcement came on a day when Democrats in Orlando were finalizing the party platform they will bring to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia later this month. As president, I will make sure Republicans never succeed in their attempts to strip away their care and that the remaining uninsured should be able to get the affordable coverage they need to stay healthy.” 
 
 Sanders said in a conference call shortly afterwards that the announcement was the product of discussion between the two campaigns. He praised Clinton’s proposal in strong, unambiguous terms ― describing it as “an extremely important initiative” and predicting that “it will save lives, it will ease suffering, it will improve health care in America, and it will cut health care costs.” 
 
 The idea of the public option ― as first sketched out by Jacob Hacker, a Yale political scientist ― is to create a separate, government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers offering coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges. On the same day, the Clinton campaign announced changes to its healthcare policy proposal, including increasing mandatory healthcare funding under the Affordable Care Act by $40 billion over the next 10 years, highlighting the significant influence Sanders still yields over the party. Of course, Clinton’s announcement comes with no policy details.
– Hillary Clinton proposed making a public option insurance plan available to residents in every state and doubling funding for community health centers in an announcement Saturday, USA Today reports. Reuters calls the move evidence as to how much influence the campaign of Bernie Sanders has had on her positions. Clinton campaign aides tell the Huffington Post both proposals are ones that had been pushed for by Sanders. On the heels of Clinton announcing a college tuition plan similar to that of Sanders, Saturday's announcement is expected to clear the way for Sanders to endorse her Tuesday. "It’s fair to say that the Clinton campaign and our campaign are coming closer and closer together," Sanders said Saturday. "[We] will have more to say in the very near future." Clinton's proposal for a public option would create a government-run insurance plan to go up against private insurance plans available through ObamaCare. She supported a public option when she ran for president in 2008, and Sanders fought for one in 2010. Sanders also won $11 billion in funding for community health centers in 2010. A third proposal from Clinton announced Saturday would allow people to enroll in Medicare at 55. The proposals expand health care funding by $40 billion over the next decade. Sanders says Clinton's healthcare plan “will save lives, it will ease suffering, it will improve health care in America, and it will cut health care costs." He had implied in the past that he wouldn't endorse Clinton until her policies got more liberal.