February 4, 2020
written by Net Advisor™
WASHINGTON, DC. There is nothing more ironic than having a politician tell you that something “free” will actually cost you at least $52 Trillion. This is what 2020 Presidential Candidate, Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) proposed.
Also keep in mind that Warren notes this cost is just for the first ten years. This works out to be $5.2 Trillion in healthcare cost per year.
Current & Anticipated Future Healthcare Costs.
Currently, the U.S. is spending $3.5 Trillion on health care. This number however includes government insurance, private insurance, out-of-pocket consumer costs, hospital expenditures and prescription drugs.
According to U.S. government data, under the current “ObamaCare” system, healthcare costs are expected to rise by 5.5 percent per year from 2018 to 2027.
“Under current law (ObamaCare), national health spending is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.5 percent per year for 2018-27 and to reach nearly $6.0 trillion by 2027.”
— U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Fact Sheet
Most of the high healthcare costs are coming from the senior population which compose of “15 percent of the population, and accounted for approximately 34 percent of all spending in 2014.”
“…health care spending for the 65 and older population was $19,098 in 2014, over 5 times higher than spending per child ($3,749) and almost 3 times the spending per working-age person ($7,153).”
— U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Fact Sheet
Warren’s government-ran Medicare For All plan accelerates healthcare costs, skyrockets taxes, and still falls short to pay for it.
Fantasy Health Care Math.
Warren begins by selling her Medicare For All by claiming that it is actually a ‘cost savings.’ Warren claims that under the current (ObamaCare) system, healthcare costs over ten years will be $52 Trillion or $5.2 Trillion per year anyway. Current projected government data suggests this number to be about $3.5 Trillion and under the assumption that there are no changes to the ObamaCare system.
Warren’s “Uninsured” Result From ObamaCare Admission.
Warren admits that under the current (ObamaCare) system, “24 million won’t have healthcare coverage…” (P.7).
This is not a surprise since we reported in 2016 that President Obama admitted that ObamaCare would still leave about 30 million people uninsured by 2022. This number could actually be more like 46 million uninsured if you count OMB’s estimate of 16 million illegal aliens in the USA just during 2008.
Part of the uninsured assumes that everyone in the U.S. wants to pay health insurance. Many young people and others in generally excellent health, who are statistically considered low risk for major health issues may not want to pay for (other people’s) healthcare.
Illegal aliens in the U.S. who don’t have health insurance get it from states or partially from federal government subsidizing healthcare at the expense of citizen taxpayers.
In terms of cost burden, our 2013 report cited then President Obama’s Health and Human Services, where five percent of the uninsured accounted for 67.3 percent of all U.S. healthcare costs.
Medicare For All Covers Illegal Aliens and All Future Aliens.
Warren promises:
“Every person in America – all 331 million people – will have full health coverage, and coverage for long-term care.”
— Elizabeth warren (P.8).
Thus this includes free healthcare for not only current illegal aliens living in the U.S., but would also include anyone else in the world who find their way to the U.S. – legally or illegally and they get free healthcare too paid for by working, taxpaying U.S. households.
Health Care That You “Need?” – Not What You Want.
“Everybody gets the doctors and the treatments they need, when they need them.”
— Elizabeth Warren (P.8).
The uninformed might believe, Medicare For All means everything healthcare is free; One can get whatever healthcare they want, when I want it, and from whom I want? Right? – WRONG.
That is not what Medicare for All is.
The government would decide whether you need healthcare or other medical treatment. The government would decide what kind of healthcare will be available, the costs, benefits, limitations; what doctors you can go to, and what treatment you can have.
The system as Warren states, is based on “need,” not want. Warren’s plan doesn’t say you can keep your doctor, choose your doctor, let alone choose your treatments. An unelected government bureaucracy will make all those healthcare decisions.
In fact, the government may decide you make too much money in your household, and therefore it will cost you more to have “free healthcare.”
Opt-Out.
It is also likely that top doctors, some life-saving specialists will opt-out of government-ran Medicare for All, just like many medical providers already opt-out or don’t accept state or federal Medicare plans.
These doctors and specialists don’t want to work on minimal government reimbursements that may not even cover their costs or make financial sense to run a practice. Therefore they opt out of government plans. Those with means will pay cash – and a lot of cash to get the best medical treatment. If one doesn’t have a ton of money, sorry, you get socialized healthcare, and hopefully won’t die prematurely from poor or lack of proper healthcare. All of this caused by a government takeover of healthcare.
Medicare For All Costs “About the Same” As Current Health Care?
Warren thinks that her massive $52 Trillion+ tax and spend plan is “about the same amount of money” as the current healthcare system (P.7). This is FALSE.
The current U.S. economy is not subject to any of the $52 Trillion in new taxes that would be imposed by Warren to pay for this massive healthcare expense.
Warren falsely assumes that shifting any new tax burden will have no U.S. economic impact. Warren also falsely assumes people, accountants, tax attorneys, etc., won’t be proactive in figuring our legal ways to reduce incomes, work less to keep income below tax thresholds, move out of state, move out of the country or take other actions to reduce their tax burden.
Fake Tax Cut.
Warren has a fantasy claim that everyone in America will not have to pay for healthcare, but that money we are paying is really a ‘tax cut.’
Claim:
“$11 trillion in household insurance and out-of-pocket expenses projected under our current system goes right back into the pockets of America’s working people.”
— Elizabeth Warren (P.8).
A government can’t spend $52 Trillion+ from taxpayers and claim not one American will pay for that bill. One can tax the wealthy, corporations, or whomever; the bottom line someone – and most of the America would be paying for the $52 Trillion in costs.
Fake Healthcare Savings.
Warren also insists that that her massive $52 Trillion+ tax and spend plan drives down healthcare costs, and middle-class families will save about $12,400 a year.
Claim:
“…a new system that drives down overall health costs and, on average, relieves the typical middle class families of $12,400 in insurance premiums and other related health care costs.”
— Elizabeth Warren (P.7).
This is massively FALSE.
Under the current ObamaCare system, the average American family was told that we would save about $2,500 a year (video) on healthcare, making the cost of healthcare – lower. We’ll that was also FALSE.
“For people with employer-sponsored coverage, costs also continue to increase. For families, premiums from 2009 to 2013 have increased by an average of $2,976.”
— Heritage Foundation, October 18, 2013.
Under just the first four years of ObamaCare, healthcare spending went up, not down to the tune of $10.6 Trillion. By 2014, Medicare specialty drug costs went up over 45 percent. Government deliberately mislead consumers as to the higher costs and lower benefits. By 2016, more Americas were uninsured and in record poverty since before ObamaCare was implemented.
Medicare For All Eliminates Private Healthcare Plans.
The Medicare For All plan would eliminate all private health-insurance plans: That’s 155 million to 181 million Americans would lose their existing private healthcare coverage.
It eliminates all competition to just one “choice” – the government’s plan. This includes eliminating employer-based plans that are often partially to significantly subsidized by the employer, for the benefit of their employees. Why would the government kill something that is not a cost of the federal government, and then make it a cost of the federal government? This is called, business stupid.
Does More People in the System Drive Down Costs?
A government can’t insure more people and think that costs will go down. Obamacare forced (mandated) everyone pay something for healthcare or be subject to an additional tax penalty. Did adding all these people to a new system drive down healthcare costs? No. It had the opposite effect – costs went significantly higher.
Let’s say every day one buys lunch for all your friends – call it a government mandate. The person is selected because they make more money than all their friends. It sounds good if you are on the receiving end, but someone is paying for all those free lunches every day and reducing their spendable income. Is it fair for the same person to be forced to flip this bill every day? This model also assumes that the cost of food (lunches) will never go up.
Adding more people (say everyone in the USA) to a system (say healthcare), and forcing everyone (who works) to pay for it whether they want it or not, whether they like it or not; then removing all their (healthcare) choices to one (government) choice is not exactly a choice.
When one no longer has competition, do you think costs will go up or down? Now recall government is running the program. Has there ever been a government program that made money over time, and not increase the costs to taxpayers?
Medicare For All would be the most costly healthcare plan in the world. It doesn’t save taxpayers any money, and there are no tax cuts. It forever destroys the U.S. healthcare insurance industry, and kills all existing healthcare plans held by the public.
We think any political candidate with a Medicare For All plan that ultimately increase taxes significantly, and lowers healthcare choices is a losing platform.
Remember that healthcare costs were LOWER before we had ObamaCare. Maybe just going back to the system that was more affordable is a better move?
We will discuss about Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) equally destructive $32 Trillion Medicare For All plan if he gains DNC nomination status.
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