President Barack Obama made a stunning policy shift on Friday, endorsing “Medicare-for-all” — a single-payer health system — for the nation. Most Democrats contending for the 2020 presidential nomination, and many Dems vying for Congressional seats this fall, are backing it, too.
But beware. They’re pulling a bait-and-switch. The phrase “Medicare-for-all” sounds as American as apple pie. A new Reuters poll shows 70 percent of Americans respond to it favorably. That’s because the public isn’t getting the truth about what it means. The actual plan these Democrats are pushing doesn’t look anything like Medicare. They’re slapping the Medicare label on what would be dangerously inadequate health care.
For starters, it would rip away private health coverage from half of all Americans, including the 157 million who get their insurance the old-fashioned way — earning it through a job. Conveniently, Democrats are forgetting to tell you that private insurance would be banned under their scheme; employers would be barred from covering workers or their families. Union members and executives who bargained for gold-plated private plans would lose them and have to settle for the same one-size-fits-all public coverage as people who refuse to work at all. Even immigrants here illegally would get the same benefits. What’s the point of working?
“Medicare-for-all” is no longer a fringe proposal favored by the extreme left. It’s gaining steam. Republicans who failed miserably to communicate a case for repealing and replacing Obamacare cannot make that mistake again. They need to warn voters about the dangers of single-payer health care.
Under “Medicare-for-all” — the legislation introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders — Americans would be automatically enrolled in the public program. Kids would be enrolled at birth.
The new scheme would guarantee hospital care, doctors’ visits, even dental, vision and long-term care, all provided by Uncle Sam. But that’s only until the money runs out. Sanders’ bill imposes hard-and-fast dollar caps on how much health care the country can consume yearly. That means limiting mammograms, hip replacements and other procedures. Sanders’ bill creates new regional health authorities to curb “overutilization” of care.