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A6 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 17 OcTOber 2019

Study: 'Medicare for All' not only way to universal coverage

Associated Press on Medicare. People with
WASHINGTON (AP) — employer coverage would
Health care memo to Dem- be able to pick the pub-
ocrats: There's more than lic plan. There would be a
one way to get to cover- mechanism to sign up all
age for all. those eligible for coverage.
A study out Wednesday Such an approach would
finds that an approach sim- reduce the number of
ilar to the plan from former uninsured by about 80%,
Vice President Joe Bide the study estimated. That
n can deliver about the would still leave nearly 7
same level of coverage as million U.S. residents without
the government-run "Medi- coverage, mainly people
care for All" plan from presi- who don't have legal per-
dential rival Bernie Sanders. mission to be in the coun-
The study from the Com- try. Under Biden's plan tax-
monwealth Fund and the payer subsidies would only
Urban Institute think tanks be available to U.S. citizens
concludes that the U.S. can and legal residents.
achieve a goal that has Employer coverage would
eluded Democrats since decline by about 10% as
Harry Truman by building some low-income workers
on former President Barack switch to the public option.
Obama's health care law. Assuming the plan was
Health care has sparked Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, and former Vice President Joe fully effective in 2020, total
sharp exchanges in the Biden hug during a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN/New York Times at U.S. health care spending
Democratic presidential Otterbein University, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in Westerville, Ohio. would decline by about
debates, and Tuesday Associated Press $20 billion, a relatively small
night was no exception. amount considering the
Massachusetts Sen. Eliza- "A goal that they all share 30 million currently unin- "It is a big lift to get this kind nation's tab is now more
beth Warren was chal- — universal coverage — sured people. of money, for sure," said than $3.5 trillion a year. The
lenged for being unwilling can be reached in differ- However, it would increase John Holahan, a top Urban decline would be partly
to say whether her support ent ways," said Sara Collins, U.S. health care spend- Institute health policy ex- due to the public option
for Medicare for All would the Commonwealth Fund's ing because of generous pert. paying hospitals and doc-
translate to higher taxes for vice president for cover- benefits with no copays A Kaiser Family Foundation tors less than what private
the middle class. Warren age and access. and deductibles. Expand- poll out this week found plans do now.
said "costs" would be lower, The researchers modeled ed benefits would include slippage in public sup- The federal government
but Sen. Amy Klobuchar of a range of health care home and community- port for Medicare for All. would have to raise from
Minnesota suggested that overhaul scenarios from based long-term care ser- Fifty-one percent support $108 billion to $147 billion
was a dodge. tweaks to Obama's law vices. Assuming the plan such a government-run more in 2020 to cover the
"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," said to a full government-run was fully effective in 2020, approach, down 5 per- additional cost of expand-
Klobuchar. "I think we owe single-payer plan like Sand- total U.S. health spending centage points since April. ing subsidized coverage
it to the American people ers is proposing. Collins said would grow by nearly $720 Opposition has risen signifi- options, a fraction of the
to tell them where we're the options studied are not billion. cantly, from 38% in April to cost of Medicare for All.
going to send the invoice." carbon copies of the can- The federal government, 47% in the latest survey. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor
She urged Democrats not didates' proposals, partly which would take on costs The Commonwealth Fund- Pete Buttigieg's plan over-
to "trash Obamacare" but because many details are now paid by employers Urban Institute study also laps in many details with
build on it. still in flux. However, they and individuals, would modeled options resem- Biden's.
The study suggests such are generally similar. have to raise nearly $2.7 bling the plan that Biden is The two think tanks are
heated discussions may The study found that a trillion more in revenue in pushing. nonpartisan research or-
have more to do with dif- full government-run plan 2020. Such amounts would It starts with more generous ganizations that have long
ferences over the scope like Sanders' would cover require a mix of broad- subsidies for "Obamacare" supported expanded cov-
and reach of government all U.S. residents, includ- based taxes, the research- plans and Medicaid expan- erage. Their health care
than with the ultimate ob- ing people in the country ers said, although the report sion in states that have so work is particularly influen-
jective of providing univer- without legal authorization. steered clear of how the far refused it. Then it adds a tial with policymakers on
sal coverage. That adds up to more than plans would be financed. "public option" plan based the political left.q