With Obamacare on a slow walk toward insolvency, Democrats are now more than ever pushing “Medicare for all” as the solution to the numerous problems with the health care industry.
But they aren’t telling you exactly what Medicare for all really means, according to a recent article by Investor’s Business Daily.
1. Lose Your Plan
The first thing Medicare for all would do is eliminate your private plan and make it illegal.
That includes all employer-provided plans, individually purchased insurance, every single union plan. It also means an end to the increasingly popular private Medicare Advantage insurance plans. These private insurance plans seniors have been flocking to specifically to avoid enrolling in the existing Medicare plan. If you like your plan, you’re guaranteed not to be able to keep it.
Second, “Medicare for All” would have the government pay all medical costs. There’d be no copays or deductibles on anything, from doctor visits, surgery and drugs to long-term care, dental and vision. The only thing not covered would be cosmetic surgery.
This would in effect make the U.S. unlike any other country in the world. Even so-called “socialist” countries like Sweden and Denmark, people pay 14 to 15 percent of health care costs out of pocket. Canada doesn’t cover prescription drugs and private insurance pays about 13 percent of the country’s health bills. People also buy private insurance in China to cover copays and deductibles, and the Chinese pay about a third of health care costs out of pocket.
2. BIGGER Government
Medicare for all also would in effect double the size of the federal government, costing up to $32.6 trillion over the first decade.
And that’s vast understatement of its true costs, since the analysis assumes draconian payment cuts to providers and unrealistic savings on administrative and prescription drug costs. It also ignores the enormous cost of delays and rationing that invariably result from government-run health care.
And what they don’t tell you is that your taxes will see huge increases to finance a government takeover of health care. Bernie Sanders’ own plan calls for an immediate 8.4 percent payroll tax hike and higher income taxes.
3. The Support Just Isn’t There
Democrats point to surveys that show 70 percent of people polled support Medicare for all, including a majority of Republicans. But that’s only because most people don’t even know what Medicare for all even means.
When Reuters substituted the terms “single payer” or “government-run” health care, support collapsed to as little as 40%.
Even that’s probably too high. A separate Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that almost half of Americans wrongly believe they could keep their existing health plans under a single-payer system. Incredibly, Democrats are the most ill-informed. The poll found 52% of Democrats think they’ll be able to keep their health plans.
Still, lack of public support didn’t stop Democrats from imposing ObamaCare on the nation eight years ago. And it won’t stop them from imposing “Medicare for all” if they ever get the chance.
The only way to prevent such a disaster is to keep Democrats out of power, at least until their socialist fever breaks.
Editor’s note: With the Democrats pushing for Medicare for all, taxes will skyrocket to pay for doubling the size of the federal government. This could lead to a massive stock market correction. If you have a 401(k), IRA or any money in stocks, it’s critical you watch this presentation today to prepare for what lies ahead.