This essay was submitted by Arthur C. Donart, Ph. D. It is fourth in a series.
Political opponents of Medicare for All (M4A) will tell you that it is a nice concept, but unachievable, because it would be too expensive and explode the Nation’s debt. South Africa is a far poorer Country than ours, but they can “afford” to provide needed medical care for all their residents.
Ironically, a conservative “think tank” funded by the Koch brothers, released a 24-page study by Charles Blahous. He is a former Economist for President George W. Bush. The study is a Mercatus Working Paper, published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
It reached a shocking conclusion, that M4A would cost $32.6 trillion dollars over the next ten years. Blahous was using Senator Bernie Sanders’s proposal. Read his report carefully, however, and you will find that Sanders’s Bill would actually save $2 trillion dollars over that ten year period!
Another study was conducted at the Economic and Political Research Institute (EPRI) at the University of Massachusetts. It considered a Government, single-payer health care program–covering everyone for all medically necessary treatment–as found in both Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s and Senator Sanders’s proposals. This study was done by a team of researchers lead by Robert Pollen and runs to 121 pages.
EPRI concluded that M4A would save 10% in the first few years of implementation and likely 20% after that. They concluded that a sales tax on gross receipts exceeding $1,000,000 of 1.78% would be sufficient to pay for the program.
Also, a family with an income of $13,000 a year would save $478 dollars on health care cost. A family with a $35,000 income would save $280. The big winners would be families with income of $60,000, who would save $3860 a year.
So, if a U. S. Senator or Representative tries to tell you that M4A is too expensive, tell them they ought to do their homework! It is no more of a so-called “Government takeover of health care” than “Medicare” is for Seniors. Medicare for All takes care of everyone while costng less than what we are presently spending for healthcare.
Contact Dr. Donart at drdonart@yahoo.com.