Democrats now embracing Sanders's 'Medicare for all' plan

One of the most glaring signs that the Democratic Party has shifted even farther leftward since the 2016 election is in the way most Democratic candidates are embracing Senator Bernie Sanders's single-payer health care plan, which he calls "Medicare for All."

As a candidate pushing this idea in 2016, Sanders was criticized by the Democratic Party establishment for proposing universal health care, telling voters it was politically unrealistic and a non-starter. Hillary Clinton and congressional Democrats were proposing minor tweaks to Obamacare rather than overhauling the entire health care system.

But the hard lurch to the left by Democrats, which has seen dozens of Sanders-boosters now running for office, has made the "Medicare for All" plan more acceptable to a majority of Democrats. In fact, most of the major candidates being mentioned in 2020 have come out in favor of it.

The Hill:

Democrats acknowledge the embrace of single-payer is part of a broader leftward shift for their party. But they say the experience of trying to make private markets work in ObamaCare – a system that Republicans have opposed at every turn – has changed their perspective on the likelihood of achieving universal coverage.

"I think Bernie Sanders has definitely laid out a vision and created a movement toward Medicare for all, and no doubt that has been a big factor," said Topher Spiro, vice president for health policy at CAP.

Part of the need for the next step, he said, is "it's become clear we're not going to get any cooperation from Republicans in terms of making the current system work optimally, and there's a lot of frustration there."
The Medicare Extra plan is a way to take the "final step" to universal coverage after ObamaCare,

The plan includes drastic cuts in payments to doctors and hospitals. That is the only way such a plan could be implemented without raising taxes through the roof.

If we had single-payer for all medical expenses at the current rates, the taxes required would be 40% of all salaries.

Obamacare on steroids. I hope they run on it.

There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Try yours truly: I’m destitute in exchange for getting comprehensive government care.

The government will treat the rest of the population no differently under Medicare Plus.

Nothing is in life is free.

Its free.

But they don’t tell you have to forfeit your income to the government in exchange for all this free care.

If life was free, we would all be for it. But in reality it comes with trade-offs none of us like.

Democrats don’t care. The rest of us should care.

The only reason Medicare is sustainable is that there are 3 people paying into the system for every one drawing benefits. If you expand Medicare to all then it will be the reverse—three people drawing benefits for every one paying in. So that means you’ll need to increase the Medicare payroll tax to 9 times its current rate. Currently it’s 2.9%. That would make it 26.1%. On top of the other taxes you already pay.

Its funded by taxes and user premiums.

Its a health care insurance plan for the elderly.

Democrats see the political advantage in allowing every one else to sign up for it.

Fortunately, they haven’t yet figured out to pay for it.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.