Democrat's "Medicare for All" Plan Will Destroy Medicare, Ration Seniors' Health Care, and Wipe-out Private Insurance Companies
Statement: Most Democrat politicians have joined in support of having the federal government put all Americans regardless of age into Medicare. What it all means for seniors is rationing of their health care, sky high premiums, 3-6 month long waits to see a doctor and schedule surgery, and probably Death Panels.
Like all socialists "big idea" solutions "Medicare for All" is not based on any realistic ability to pay for services and benefits, but rather on the notion that to get voters to support their "big idea," the Democrats have to promise the public that other people's money (we'll tax the millionaires and billionaires . . . , everyone has to pay their fair share . . . , and likewise) will cover the costs.
The fact is, without adding every American into the Medicare system, Medicare's expected future obligations exceeded premiums and dedicated taxes by an astounding $89 trillion according to the Rio Grande Foundation. Clearly, a massive expansion of the program would impose enormous tax increases on all, including seniors, to pick up all medical costs currently borne by employers and those of working age.
Background Documentation:
- Democrat/Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced S. 1804 the "Medicare for All Act of 2017" on September 9, 2017. S. 1804 would ban private health insurance and employer-sponsored health insurance for any benefits also covered by "Medicare for all."
- Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) "I support Medicare for All," I have for a very long time." The Young Turks (TYT.com) Feb. 26, 2019.
- Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) "We need to have 'Medicare-for-All,' Harris told a questioner in the audience, noting it's something she feels "very strongly" about. And she is "willing to end private insurance to make it happen." CNN Town Hall, Jan. 29, 2019.
- Presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D - N.Y.) ". . . eliminating private health insurance is an "urgent goal." The Washington Free Beacon, Feb. 10, 2019.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for all" plan would increase government health care spending by $32.6 trillion over 10 years . . . and require historic tax increases.
According to a Study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia, U.S. News & World Report, July 30, 2018.
- "Likewise, seniors here will have to brace themselves for shortages if Congress expands Medicare to younger people." Why 'Medicare for all' means deadly trouble for seniors – New York Post, August 8, 2017.
- Rep. Pramilla Jayapal (D-Wash.) introduced H.R. 676, the "Medicare for All Act of 2019" currently with 107 co-sponsors. H.R. 676 would limit private insurance to benefits not provided by the government-run program. Bloomberg.com, Feb. 26, 2019.
- In England, the Liverpool Care Pathway or LCP (the LCP gives power to health workers to make life and death decisions) on which 130,000 elderly and terminally-ill adult patients die each year – is now the subject of an independent inquiry ordered by ministers. The payton.org, Dec. 3, 2012.
- In 2017, England's Health Secretary revealed that a National Health Service (NHS) study showed that England's Single Payer health care system was largely responsible for the unnecessary deaths of 13,000 non-terminally-ill patients in NHS hospitals between 2005 and 2012. Natural News, Sept. 10, 2017.
- Democrats' 'Medicare for All' would impose enormous tax increases on all, including seniors, to pick up all medical costs currently borne by employers and those of working age. National Review Oct.26, 2018
- Americans don't have to imagine what a government-run system would look like. We have one that already covers millions of Americans. It is called the Veterans Health Administration. Our veterans die waiting in long lines, sometime 6 to 12 months, and hospitals often provide shoddy levels of care -- to the very people who have, through their service and sacrifices, earned the best care in the world. Townhall.com, Oct. 23, 2018.
- Canada's Supreme Court has ruled that under the "law of the land" in Ontario, a government board, not the family or doctors, has the ultimate power to pull the plug on a patient. Investor's Business Daily, Oct. 22, 2013.
- Under Medicare for all, much of the added cost of providing health coverage would be financed through an increase in the payroll tax from 15 percent to 45 percent, which itself could increase unemployment. thestatenews.com, Jan. 10, 2019.
- According to a 200-page study by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts entitled Economic Analysis of Medicare for All, the loss of jobs due to a "Medicare for All" would cause:
- about 800,000 jobs in the insurance industry to be lost
- more than 1 million in doctors' offices, clinics, hospitals, and other health providers to lose their jobs, and
- the majority of dislocated workers in the health and insurance industry to be women.
Conclusion: The Democrats are not leveling with seniors or the American public about the bruising impact "Medicare for All" would have on them. The truth is, seniors will have to brace themselves for shortages, additional rationing, and higher costs for services if Congress expands Medicare to 250,000,000 more people.
Major tax increases, the end to private insurance companies and increased unemployment due to higher payroll taxes is what's waiting if every American gets thrown into Medicare for All.
We need not go any further than the Veteran's Administration (VA) to see how a fully run government health care system would really work. At the VA, hundreds of thousands of veterans listed in the Department of Veterans Affairs enrollment system died before their applications for care were processed, according to a VA's inspector general's report.
And that's why the Democrat's "Medicare for All" is a dangerous idea for seniors.