Bernie Sanders has been pushing his “Medicare for all” plan lately and lots of Democrats are jumping on board. Bernie and his allies even claim it will save money. If you don’t believe them, you’re not alone. In fact, the cost would be enormous.
John Kartch writes at Americans for Tax Reform:
Bernie Calls For 52% Tax Rate for Government HealthcareSen. Bernie Sanders is once again calling for extreme tax hikes to pay for his plans, this time for a government-run single payer health care system. The plan will come in at a cost of $1.38 trillion per year and will impose across the board tax hikes, including:-An income tax rate of 52%-Taxing ALL capital gains as ordinary income, meaning the current top capital gains rate of 23.8% would jump to 52%-Massive hike in the Death Tax-American families making as little as $28,900 per year will face a 2.2 percent tax on their income-A $630 billion tax hike aimed at employers, which will just end up hitting workers-Sanders also calls for more tax complexity and more tax brackets: 37%, 43%, 48% and of course the 52%
Bernie was recently asked by Chuck Todd how the plan will be paid for but he didn’t mention anything about a 52 percent tax rate:
Cost isn’t the only problem. Adopting a plan like Bernie’s would bring other negative consequences, such as a lack of choices and doctor shortages.
Ross Marchand writes at The Hill:
Single-payer promises consumers, taxpayers a world of painSen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longstanding advocate of taxpayer-funded medicine, finally released his single-payer bill last week to much fanfare from his liberal supporters. The rabid show of support by the grassroots left shows that old ideas truly die-hard. Back during the 2016 Democratic primaries, experts from across the ideological spectrum criticized the Senator’s plan as too costly and unworkable in practice.With large required payment cuts to hospitals and physicians and tax hikes on the working class, it’s little wonder why support can’t and won’t expand beyond Bernie’s base.The problem with single-payer goes far beyond the gargantuan price tag. If the federal government were emboldened as the sole national insurer, it would likely cut medical reimbursement rates in a bid to cut costs. In other words, the government would not be able to pay doctors nearly as much as they enjoy under private insurance schemes.Faced with severe salary and revenue cuts, many practices would need to close and “insured” individuals would be left with far fewer options. And this isn’t mere armchair theorizing. As we’ve seen in the real world, low federal reimbursement rates (under Medicaid) mean low patient acceptance rates by physicians. This, along with several other unsavory features of federal insurance, leaves Medicaid patients in no better health than before obtaining insurance.
If you thought Obamacare was bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Featured image via YouTube.
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