Sanders: Medicare for All means more taxes, better coverage

[left-of-center2012]

Health care was the focus of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders’ second day of campaigning in the critical early-voting state of South Carolina.“You’re going to be paying more in taxes,” Sanders said Friday to a man asking how he’d benefit from Medicare for All if his employer currently pays for most of his premiums. “But at the end of the day, you’re going to be paying less for health care than you are right now. It will be comprehensive.”

Sanders tallied up other personal expenses that would go away under his plan, including co-pays and medication costs over a $200-per-year cap. Sanders said he was also working on a proposal to eliminate medical debt.

In early states including South Carolina, some voters continue to voice confusion as to exactly what various candidates in the vast Democratic field mean when they advocate for pieces of a “Medicare for All” plan. California Sen. Kamala Harris’ new plan would preserve a role for private insurance. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is open to step-by-step approaches.

Others including former Vice President Joe Biden have been blunt in criticizing the government-run system envisioned by Sanders.

https://www.apnews.com/a7268bd5902f40c3a98f0c64d9b78163

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. What I want to know is

how he plans to get this proposal through Congress.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

2. The same way he was going to get it through when you supported him.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. This is a general question I would put to all candidates, not just Bernie.

It's not that I don't like his ideas, it's that Congress probably won't. All the candidates have these great, visionary ideas that will be chewed up and spat out by Congress. So if I were in charge of debate questions I'd ask all of them how they plan to persuade Congress - especially the Senate - to accept all or even part of their plans. Even if by some miracle we take back the Senate, we can't expect these plans to be rubber-stamped and exit Congress in the same form they entered.

[wasupaloopa]

13. That is the reason I don't give Bernie any consideration.

He is the champion of writing bills that go nowhere.

So many times I heard him on Thom Hartman telling about a bill he just introduced as if the problem is solved by that only.

Congress will decide what kind of health care legislation we get, not Bernie or any other candidate.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. I supported Bernie in the 2016 primaries, but

he lost me for a lot of reasons (I won't relitigate 2016). I agree with you 100%. All candidates, including Bernie, have to be honest with voters by explaining that their proposals are aspirational, and that while they will do their best to persuade Congress to accept them, it will be up to voters to elect members of Congress that can be persuaded. It's not enough to say, "Elect me and you'll get free medical care and free college!" because that's not going to happen in this or any other universe. A candidate who says "Elect me and I'll send bills to Congress that will make affordable health care and higher education available to everyone" is being honest instead of shoveling bullshit.

[PatrickforO]

3. Well, see this is the thing, isn't it. And we fall for it EVERY TIME.

Presidents set the vision. Administrations set the vision through their cabinet appointments, interpretations, grant funding opportunities they release and through the president's bully pulpit.

Congress has the purse strings.

So, any big, bold plan will NECESSARILY have to be subject to vigorous debate and compromise. That is how our founders intended our government to be.

Now I know I'm not telling you anything new, but what I will say is we've got to get the lobby money and the dark money out of DC. Right now, the universal sentiment of the American people in wanting better healthcare, and the moral imperative stands, with only our own votes and involvement, against literally millions of dollars that will be spent by big pharma and health insurance companies to ensure we don't even get a public option.

So when we have debate, that's one thing. When we have debate with the addition of intense pressure from lobbies to oppose reelection, that is quite another. It goes against everything our founders intended. And we sure as hell need to get rid of it.

Because I'll tell you, I would CHEERFULLY pay a lot more in taxes for a Medicare for all program. You bet. Because I'm paying out the nose right now, and Sanders is right about my expenses actually GOING DOWN. Problem is, and the WHOLE reason we're even having this debate, is that Wall Street is afraid that if we the people are given a medical care package that actually drives our expenses down, it will also drive their profits down.

And many among us would MUCH rather see people die and suffer horribly to preserve their profits.

[CTyankee]

14. If his plan covers dental I'm FOR it!

I'm preserving my dental health at a very high cost. One crown was over a thousand dollars. Old teeth like mine chip and must be repaired and that's expensive. Regular cleanings are over $100.

Private dental insurance is not worth what you pay into it if you are retired like me and not on a company group plan.

[George II]

6. That plan won't even get the majority of Democrats in the House, much less the Senate.

[Thekaspervote]

7. This!

[Green Line]

12. His answer to this is

the people will rise up and demand it.

[virgogal]

8. So it's all about you and to hell with

those that are not as fortunate.How nice.

[George II]

10. That's an odd interpretation of what that poster said. In fact it's a total misrepresentation of it.

I could turn your thoughts around and say "so you want to take away something that's working and affordable for something that isn't even fully defined yet."

[Cha]

17. Thank you!

[George II]

9. There are millions of Americans in your position. Once people figure more of what's in the "plan"...

...(it's not even fully defined yet, either) they're not happy with it.

[NYMinute]

16. Either you pay via premiums or pay via taxes

but pay you must for the healthcare.