While Democratic politicians running for the Presidency in 2020 have shopped the concept of Universal Healthcare for all Americans, which is , something this country stands just about alone in NOT having….
The concept is rife with questions…..
How would it work?
Would everybody in this country try, legal and illegal be covered?
What would happen to the concept of choice?
What would happen to private insurance companies and their jobs?
Who wants the government to make choices for your healthcare?
With problems with Obamacare….Does this country want to go at a even BIGGER healthcare system change?
What would the cost be…..Trillions?
Politically?
There is little to NO chance this is going to happen….
But it IS gonna be a topic of discussion and people should have an idea of what it they are being pitched….
“Medicare for all” is popular, and not just among Democrats. Most Republicans favor giving people under 65 at least the choice to buy into Medicare.
But when people hear arguments against it, their support plummets. It turns out that most people don’t really know what Medicare for all means. Even asking three policy experts might yield three different answers.
By our count, there are at least 10 major proposals to expand Medicare or Medicaid….
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Some plans, including the one offered by Senator Sanders, as well as the Medicare for America Act, backed by Representatives Rosa DeLauro and Jan Schakowsky, would provide universal coverage. Others, like the Healthy America Program from fellows at the Urban Institute, would not necessarily do so.
Most proposals would retain employment-based coverage and individual markets. These include Medicare X (Representative Brian Higgins, Senator Tim Kaine, Senator Michael Bennet); the Choice Act (Ms. Schakowsky, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse); and the Choose Medicare Act (Senators Jeff Merkley and Chris Murphy).
Most plans would also keep premiums, though some would have subsidies for low-income families. But a few, including from Representative Pramila Jayapal and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, would do away with premiums entirely.
Almost all proposals would keep cost sharing, with some shedding it for those below the poverty threshold.
Medicare for all is not the only way to achieve major coverage expansion. Several panelists, including Ms. Glied and Mr. Pollack, like the idea of a public option or federal fallback plan — perhaps a Medicare-like plan that competes with other, private coverage. A proposal from the Center for American Progress includes versions of this idea.
Ms. Meara suggested a related idea, similar to one that Representative Ben Ray Luján and Senator Brian Schatz have proposed: “A more realistic path would make some basic set of benefits available — like a Medicaid buy-in — leaving open a path for those wishing to spend more to do so.”
Mr. Starr said the next Democratic president would not repeat the mistake of exhausting his or her political capital on health reform. Mr. McDonough agreed, saying coverage expansion debates have a way of “sucking up all the political oxygen.” He would like to see “space for consideration” on education, taxes, climate change, ethics and campaign finance reform, “and so much else.”
If Democrats win in 2020, there is sure to be a tension between ideas reflected in Dr. Woolhandler’s declaration that “health care is a human right” and Mr. McDonough’s warning that pursuing a fully government-run Medicare for all might “pre-empt progress on everything else.”….
Bernie Sanders modifies his Medicare for all stand to accommodate keeping choice of doctors and different plans…..
Ooops!
How many people raised their hands to support his program that even he don’t support in its original form?