Its clear that Bernie Sanders is making “Medicare for All” the keystone in his push for the 2020 Democratic Nomination. The topic of guaranteeing health care for all Americans is popular so its a smart move on his part, and makes for easy sound bites.
“Together we are going to end the international embarrassment of the United States of America, our great country, being the only major nation on earth not to guarantee health care to all as a right,” Sanders said. “This is a struggle for the heart and soul of who we are as American people.” “Health care is a human right, not a privilege,” Sanders said at a Capitol Hill rally Wednesday.
The real battle here is about logistics and cost, however. you don’t hear much about that on the nightly news or the late-night talk shows. Most estimates, including democratic ones, indicate it ” could increase government spending on health care by more than $25 trillion. ” The liberterian Mercatus Center puts the price tag at 32.6 trillion over ten years. Sanders claims that the higher taxes paid by all would be balanced by what you would save on premiums and high deductibles. This discounts the fact that about 85% of the population has claims less than $2000 every year; they will still be paying much higher taxes.
The White House described the plan as a “total government takeover of health care that would actually hurt seniors, eliminate private health insurance for 180 million Americans, and cripple our economy and future generations with unprecedented debt.” The president has vowed the GOP will be the “party of great health care,” but has not provided a plan of his own.
Unfortunately, no one on either side has yet proposed any legislation that would be functional, reasonable priced, and actually solve some of the biggest issues in health care costs- prescription drug costs, fraud and skyrocketing malpractice costs. Our system is clearly broken, and cannot be fixed by soundbites, political parties or sweeping statements. IMHO its time this country figured this out.
