This morning, I am off to a substitute job, so no links except for the one about The Lancet study. You are on your own research to confirm what I am saying, but I think you should trust I am essentially correct here.
Anyway, I happened to be by The Folks' house yesterday early evening and they had MSNBC/MSDNC on, and it was screen wall to screen wall filled with talking heads all trashing Bernie Sanders' supporters as a way to attack Bernie. I loved the African-American female talking head saying the BernieBros are the reason Bernie can never get past 27% in the polling data, when of course, that morning, the Marist/NPR/PBS poll, a respected national polling triumvirate, had Bernie with a double digit lead over the next candidate and at 31%--and rising. The ceiling talk as to Bernie reminded me of the ceiling talk Never Trump Republicans talked about with Trump at this point in 2016.
Anyway, I have class tonight, for my transitioning to become a high school history or civics teacher, and will miss the debate. If I was advised Bernie, I would advise him to use his two minute opening to clear the misinformation regarding his Medicare for All single payer initiative. I would open with the fact medical care/insurance now eats up 18% of the entire US economy as measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and continuing to rise. Then, I would say anyone who says they are for tweaking the current system, or the ACA/Obamacare, or adding a public option, is only adding to the costs. I would demand that tonight, every candidate reveal what their plans cost, and let Warren talk about her dopey cost approach that relies on an $800 billion immediate cut to the military. The others have no plan for how they cut costs. Nothing.
The Lancet, which is the oldest peer review medical journal in the English language, founded in 1823, has released a study dated February 15, 2020 analyzing Bernie's specific proposal for Medicare for All. The five doctors and economists concluded Bernie's plan saves $450 billion a year while providing health insurance to every person in our nation and much wider care (dental, vision, long term senior care) than anything now offered here or nearly anywhere. They said the costs for each person will be less for most people in the US, as the single payer system rationalizes and makes far more efficient the delivery of medical insurance, as it is insuring people that is the main issue. Bernie's plan, I should add, also provides for free medical school at public schools, expands opportunities for nurses and PAs, and provides home care for seniors so they can stay home with help and avoid costly private retirement homes and such (I know it is costing nearly $5,000 a month for my mother in law, and because there is only one staffer per 25 people, she pays another $2-3 a month for helpers when my sister-in-law is not available). The senior homes are nearly unregulated and it is a big money maker for the owners. Ugh.
So will my taxes go up? Yes, but you will not pay premiums, co-pays, or deductibles, so your overall medical insurance costs go greatly down unless you are truly in the top 5% or higher in income. Bernie has said it will be a 2-6% progressive payroll tax, so the more you make the more it may rise between 2% and 6%, plus the wealth tax that will pay for his plan. The negotiations will be over where the rise will occur at each level. Check Bernie's site and you will see a calculator where you put in your yearly income and your medical insurance costs. Chances are, unless you are really wealthy, you will pay less and likely far less. We did it and it would save us $13,000 and change. But dammit. This is not about me. We have survived. This is about the 40,000 dying from lack of medical care each year. This is about 40 million left untouched by the ACA/Obamacare. This is about the 35 more million underinsured. We are still the richest country on earth and health care is a right that is essentially denied. There is no choice with your employer provided plan unless you are the one who owns the business. The Culinary Union leadership is full of it. They will lose their plan over the next few years if we don't start our transition, and anyone who loses his or her job there will not be able to pay the COBRA payment anyway. So as John Oliver's show pointed out, there is more choice where it counts, in choosing docs or hospitals, under a single payer system than this jerry rigged employer health insurance provided system. And unions will be able to negotiate for wages again, instead of trying to hold the line on health care costs.
I hate to say it, but this is a test for the majority of Democrats and the American people. Can we get our heads out of our collective asses and see that the only way to cut costs, give people choice of who to see when sick or ill, and not deprive people of care for lack of money, is a single payer system. Read about Uwe Reinhardt, who studied this for most of his adult life as an economist at Princeton before his death a couple of years ago. He was clear that single payer is the only rational way to go. Any politician who talks "universal access" or "public option" is full of shit at this point. Enough. Let's get on with it. Let us take away the greed. Single payer Medicare for all of us.
