Medicare For All is the hot topic these days. Consequently, there is no shortage of misinformation and outright lies about it. It’s my goal here today to break down what Medicare For All is, what it isn’t, & how Bernie Sanders’ plan for it is the only logical way forward. There’s a lot to cover here, so let’s dive right in.
What Is It?
First, let’s define Medicare For All. Medicare For All is the plan proposed by Bernie Sanders to give every American healthcare. Period. It’s a plan mirroring the universal healthcare plans of other developed nations where “insurance companies” are not a thing.
I know that sounds hard to believe. We’ve been conditioned all our lives to believe that there’s no other way to approach healthcare besides having health insurance companies playing a middle-man between you and your doctor. But that’s not how it is in the rest of the world. And it doesn’t have to be that way here, either.
While some candidates insist that Medicare For All is “just a framework” or an “abstract idea”, nothing could be further from the truth. Medicare For All is not an idea; it is a fully developed bill that sits right now on the floor of the Senate. So right away that’s one lie we’ve exposed.
In case you don’t have the time to read the full bill text above, I’ll summarize it for you. Medicare For All will take our existing Medicare system, expand it to cover everyone, expand the coverage to cover everything except cosmetic procedures (say goodbye to the supplemental Medicare insurance plans that people need to buy), and ban insurance companies from providing duplicative care.
That last part is what’s key to the bill, and why any other “version” of Medicare For All is doomed to failure. Why, you ask? Walk with me.
But Why Not A Public Option?
Several of the establishment Democratic candidates are supportive of some “version” of Medicare For All, so I’m going to just use our friend Pete Buttigieg as an example. Mayor Pete, as he’s affectionately known, recently unveiled his rebuttal to Sanders’ Medicare For All plan. He calls it “Medicare For All Who Want It.” Catchy, right? He really should give the unpaid intern who came up with it a raise.
In brief, Pete’s plan will – in theory – expand Medicare’s benefits to people under 65, but will allow private insurance companies to continue to exist alongside it. Essentially, we would have our traditional private health insurance system on one hand, and a “public option” on the other. Enrollment in the government system would be voluntary, and if you don’t want to enroll you can continue using your private health insurance.
Sounds good on paper, right? I agree, it does. Mayor Pete is leaning heavily on the concept of “choice” for his healthcare reform plan. The problem is that it’s all a lie. I’ll talk more about the false concept of “choice” in a little bit. For now, let’s focus on the most damning part of his plan: the insurance companies being allowed to hang around like that one weird guy at a party that no one remembers inviting, but he’s there anyway.
Health insurance companies cannot be allowed to provide duplicative care. Why? Consider the way our government works. The people with money bribe the politicians to get their way. Sucks, right? Absolutely. Now, what do health insurance companies have a lot of? Right, money.
So, if allowed to co-exist, the health insurance companies will slowly but surely start to lobby and de-fund the “public option” either out of existence completely or to such a state where it’s a total clusterfuck of an institution due to lack of funding. Then, they will turn around – along with the media pundits and crooked politicians – and go, “See! We told you a Medicare For All plan wouldn’t work! Look how shitty it is!” While completely ignoring and covering up the fact that their unchecked greed caused it to be so.
But I Want Choice!
Good for you. Choose what bagel you want in the morning.
But seriously, everyone wants choices. Choice is a fundamentally human desire. No one likes anything forced upon them. So why should healthcare be any different? If I don’t want the government telling me what doctor I can go to, why can’t I keep my private insurance?
Herein lies the 2nd biggest lie about Medicare For All, and one of the most infuriating arguments. The concept of “Medicare For All will take away your choice of what doctor to go to.”
This is a lie. Medicare For All will allow you the most choice that Americans have ever had in terms of healthcare coverage. Consider our current private system. Most Americans have healthcare coverage through their employer. I bet you do, as well. And when you have coverage through your employer, you are completely at the mercy of said employer.
In other words, let’s say that you have Cigna coverage at your employer, and you like it because your favorite doctor and/or hospital accepts Cigna insurance. Everything is great. You’re breaking bones left and right just so you can enjoy that sweet Cigna coverage.
Then, one day, right after you schedule an appointment to get your latest fracture examined, your employer makes an announcement. Because of increased costs, they will no longer be partnering with Cigna. They’re going to be using a cheaper provider, let’s say Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Ok, that’s fine, right? You just have to look at the new plans and decide which one you want to pick. So you get your shiny new cards and call up your doctor.
And that’s when you find out that your doctor – the one who was so willing to accept all of your random broken bones – doesn’t accept Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Uh-oh.
Now you have to find a new doctor. Or a new hospital. Maybe it takes you a month to find one you like. Maybe more. Or, I guess, you can keep going to out of network doctors. But you will pay dearly for that privilege.
Compare that to Medicare For All. Instead of worrying about whether your boss will switch your provider each year, or moving out of a coverage zone, you can go to whatever doctor or hospital you want. Forever.
That’s right. No other plan has greater choice than Medicare For All. The nation is your network. Never again will you have to comb through a three hundred page document searching for what doctor is in which network, etc. You just go to whatever doctor you want.
Suck on that choice, establishment.
That’s Expensive Though, Right?
This is the last refuge of the moronic establishment after you’ve destroyed their other dipshit arguments against Medicare For All. They ask it and then act all smug like they’ve checkmated you. Far from it.
Medicare For All will be paid for the same way other government programs are paid for. Taxes.
BUT WAIT! Doesn’t that mean that Bernie wants to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for this? Why should my taxes go up to pay for the deadbeat down the street’s healthcare?!
First of all, wow, that’s a remarkably selfish argument. But fine. The answer to that question is no. Middle class taxes will not be raised.
How is that possible, you ask? I’ll tell you.
Under our current system, you are already paying a ridiculous private tax for healthcare. What does that mean? Consider all of the expenses you pay out for your insurance. You have a deductible to meet before the insurance gets off its ass to cover your expenses. Then you have co-pays. And don’t forget your bi-weekly payroll deduction for your part of the medical insurance coverage through your employer. And then you have “hidden fees” which can hit in the form of surprise bills after doctor visits. You either pay those or you spend hours on the phone fighting with your insurance company to fix it. Fun, right?
It’s also extremely expensive. Medicare For All would get rid of all of that. No deductibles, no copays, no fees. And no bi-weekly deductions. In exchange, yes, there will be a small increase in taxes. HOWEVER, the amount your taxes are increased would be less than what you’re currently paying in the long run.
It’s like this. Say you’re currently paying $5,000 per year for your insurance coverage, once all the costs are calculated. And your taxes amount to $6,000 per year. Under Medicare For All, that $5,000 will disappear. In exchange, your taxes may go up to $7,000 per year. Yes, there is an increase. But you’re saving $4,000 per year that you weren’t previously.
There. Bam. Medicare For all saves you, the taxpayer, money. And a substantial amount, at that.
There are other options for how to pay for Medicare For All as well, all of which are spelled out in the bill linked above.
UPDATE: Thanks to commenter Tammy for providing the below links to two calculators where you can plug in your own information and see for yourself just how much money you’d be saving.
But I Heard People Don’t Want It
This is another lie on the part of the establishment. This one, however, is more insidious than the others, because its based on actual poll data that they can take out and show to people.
However, the data is flawed because of the methodology used to collect it. What do I mean? Let’s walk some more.
Just the other day, Biden’s campaign was caught manipulating polls to show that people don’t want Medicare For All. The culprit, predictably, was Third Way, the establishment think tank which we talked about in my previous article about electability. You can see more of their shenanigans with polling there.
For our purposes, the poll in question was part of a test run to see what framing of Medicare For All would cause people to be against it. They found that the most persuasive framing was when the poll stated that the costs would go up. I think I already debunked that one. It also found that people would be against it if the framing was such that Medicare For All would somehow reduce care for seniors (laughable) or if “long wait times” were invoked.
The idea of wait times as a reason to be against Medicare For All is dumb. It just is. It implies that under our system you can just go see a doctor or specialist whenever you want. Anyone who’s ever had to make a doctor’s appointment can tell you that isn’t the way things work. In the worst cases, people are waiting months on end to get an appointment. So the idea that healthcare being free at the point of service would mean waiting to see a doctor is just nonsensical.
Quality of care is also something that is brought up a lot. The idea that Medicare For All would somehow reduce the quality of individual care people receive is also dumb. How do we know this? Look at the rest of the developed world. Canadian citizens are just fine with their quality of care. So are all the European and Scandinavian countries, and these are the models on which Bernie’s Medicare For All plan is built.
“But Mike,” you say, “if that’s true, why are all these people coming to the US for care?”
What people? Where? Do you mean the rich as fuck Saudi princes who come here to go to doctors? Sure, ok. That happens. But if you’re not rich as fuck, no one is coming here to see a doctor. Hell, expats frequently return to their home countries to go to the doctor, citing our stupid healthcare system as too confusing and money-sucking. They’d rather fly thousands of miles than go to a local doctor. Yea. Some quality.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is this. 70% of Americans – both Democrat & Republican – support Medicare For All. Yes, you can manipulate the polls by claiming that people will lose their doctors or their hospitals, or lying about costs. But when you give people the actual facts – all of the facts – in an unbiased way, the people are overwhelmingly in favor of Medicare For All. Not “For Some” or “For Those Who Want It.” Just “Medicare For All”.
It’s time for America to join the rest of the world. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Period.
Looks great & thank you for putting this together. I would not leave people to work through the math themselves on taxes vs. insurance cost. $11,000 total vs $7,000 total. We want it to be as clear as day. I would also include Bernie’s tax and insurance cost calculator available for people to use.
https://valadian.github.io/SandersHealthcareCalculator/
https://bernietax.com/
Thanks for these! Very handy. I appreciate your support.