Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
“Medicare for All” comes with a huge price tag according to a study by the Mercatus Center.
Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) plan to replace the current health care insurance system by expanding Medicare to every U.S. citizen is estimated to cost $32.6 trillion over 10 years.
ABC News reports:
The latest plan from the Vermont independent would require historic tax increases as government replaces what employers and consumers now pay for health care, according to the analysis being released Monday by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia. It would deliver significant savings on administration and drug costs, but increased demand for care would drive up spending, the analysis found.
Sanders’ plan builds on Medicare, the popular insurance program for seniors. All U.S. residents would be covered with no copays and deductibles for medical services. The insurance industry would be relegated to a minor role.
CBS News also reported on the study:
"Medicare for all" plan touted by Bernie Sanders would cost $32.6 trillion, study finds https://t.co/7eqKM21V5Z pic.twitter.com/R7Svzw7tNC
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 30, 2018
Fox News reports the expansion of Medicare is also supported by a number of Democrats:
2020 hopefuls like Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., endorsed a “Medicare for all” program last year.
Political newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who beat House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in a recent upset primary and instantly became a prominent face of the democratic socialist movement, also is promoting a “Medicare for all” platform.
The Fox News story includes a response by Sanders:
But Sanders blasted the analysis as “grossly misleading and biased,” noting that the Mercatus Center receives funding from the conservative Koch brothers. Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch is on the center’s board.
“If every major country on earth can guarantee health care to all, and achieve better health outcomes, while spending substantially less per capita than we do, it is absurd for anyone to suggest that the United States cannot do the same,” Sanders said in a statement. “This grossly misleading and biased report is the Koch brothers’ response to the growing support in our country for a ‘Medicare for all’ program.”
Sanders claims his idea of “Medicare for All” is not a radical idea:
Please remember that our ideas, including Medicare for all, are not radical. They are what the vast majority of the American people want. https://t.co/vHOZRoCY3u
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 24, 2018
Sanders and other left-wing politicians continue to promote the idea of “free stuff” as a means to get votes.
Cost and the quality of medical treatment is not part of the left-wing’s sales pitch.
