Medicare for all
February 28, 2019 | Expert Insights
The Democrats in the US House of representatives have recently revealed their most ambitious government-run health care program, i.e., the Medicare health insurance program.
Background
The U.S. does not have a uniform health system, has no universal health care coverage, and only recently enacted legislation mandating healthcare coverage for almost everyone. Rather than operating a national health service, a single-payer national health insurance system, the U.S. health care system can best be described as a hybrid system.
A 2014 survey of the healthcare systems of 11 developed countries found the US healthcare system to be the most expensive and worst-performing. This was in terms of health access, efficiency, and equity. According to a U.S. government website, if an individual breaks a leg, they could end up with a bill for $7,500. If an individual needs to stay in the hospital for three days, it would probably cost about $30,000.
A study done at Harvard Medical School with Cambridge Health Alliance showed that nearly 45,000 annual deaths are associated with a lack of patient health insurance. The study also found that uninsured, and working Americans have an approximately 40% higher mortality risk compared to privately insured working Americans.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare was passed in 2010. It was one of the most significant restructurings of the health care system in the US. Its goal was to provide health insurance coverage to around 15% of the US population who did not have it. However, US President Donald Trump emerged as a staunch critic of this Act. One of the important promises that he made during his campaign was to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Analysis
The Democrats of the US House of Representatives have proposed their ambitious Medicare health insurance program. The recent growing public concern over the rising cost of healthcare has led to the development of their new plan to include all Americans.
The Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal unveiled the bill. She said that the present U.S. healthcare system would be transitioned into a single-payer “Medicare for All” program funded by the government in the next two years. The objective of the program is to transform the American healthcare system from one in which millions of Americans are uninsured to one that provides universal coverage.
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said: “Americans are literally dying because they can’t afford insulin or the cancer treatment they need.” She also added that “The state of our healthcare system is absolutely atrocious.” While describing the coverage of the plan she said “Everybody in, nobody out” - thus it would be a complete transformation of the program. Frontrunner candidates in the Democratic primary like Sens. Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Elizabeth Warren have all signed on as co-sponsors to Sanders’s single-payer bill in the Senate.
According to the new plan, it would bar employers from offering separate plans that compete with the government-run option. It would also play down on the dependence on Medicare and Medicaid, thereby transitioning their enrollees into the new project. The proposed plan also says that those who qualify for the new universal Medicare plan would transition into the program throughout two years. This would start with people under 19 and over 55 moving into the program one year after it becomes the law — and everyone else one year after that.
The Medicare for All Act of 2019, proposed by Ms. Jaypal describes a benefits package that is more generous than what other single-payer countries, such as England or Canada offer. It is expected that the benefits in Ms. Jayapal’s bill are even more generous than those included in Sen. Bernie Sanders Medicare-for-all plan. In 2017, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders was one of the first to propose the idea of introducing-Medicare for All.
According to Ms. Jaypal, the possible ways to pay for the bill include a tax on millionaires and billionaires, employer premiums and closing tax loopholes for the wealthy.
Counterpoint
Though it is an ambitious plan, it does not include details on how the government would pay for the new healthcare system. Some studies have estimated that the cost could increase to tens of trillions of dollars over the next decade.
It is also unlikely to gain the support of any Republicans in the House or the Senate, who have previously scoffed single-payer healthcare as a socialist policy and oppose government interference in healthcare.
Assessment
Our assessment is that the proposed bill is indeed driven with the objective of providing affordable and universal healthcare. We commend the Democrats in offering the bill due to the rising concern over the drastic increase in the cost of insurance and primary healthcare in the country. However, we believe that specific gaps must be filled concerning funding of the program. Only then would the bill be passed in both the Senate and House of representatives.
Read more:
Comments