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Dems Won't Tell Voters How Radical 'Medicare For All' Is

Socialized Medicine: Remember when Republicans said that ObamaCare was designed to fail so Democrats could push "single payer?" That was called conspiracy mongering. But guess what? ObamaCare is failing. And Democrats are now pushing "Medicare for All" as the solution.

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Trouble is, Democrats aren't telling voters anything about what "Medicare for All" means. Probably because the plan would be the most radical socialization of health care on the planet.

Everyone from New York socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Texas Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke has called for "Medicare for All." So far, 123 congressional Democrats and 16 Democratic Senators have co-sponsored "Medicare for All" bills.

What would "Medicare for All" would do? Here are the facts, based on the bills in the House and Senate.

Lose Your Plan

First, it would outlaw existing private health insurance.

That includes all employer-provided plans, individually purchased insurance, every single union plan. It also means an end to the increasingly popular private Medicare Advantage insurance plans. These private insurance plans seniors have been flocking to specifically to avoid enrolling in the existing Medicare plan. If you like your plan, you're guaranteed not to be able to keep it.

Second, "Medicare for All" would have the government pay all medical costs. There'd be no copays or deductibles on anything, from doctor visits, surgery and drugs to long-term care, dental and vision. The only thing not covered would be cosmetic surgery.

Keep in mind that no other country in the world does that.

Even in "socialist" countries like Sweden and Denmark, people pay 14% to 15% of health costs out of pocket. Canada doesn't cover prescription drugs, and private insurance picks up 13% of the country's health bills. Even in China, people buy private insurance to cover copays and deductibles, and the Chinese pay almost a third of health costs out of pocket.

So, Democrats are rushing to endorse a plan that is more socialist than Communist China.

Double Size Of Government

It would also nearly double the size of the federal government. A recent analysis of Bernie Sanders' current "Medicare for All" plan finds that it would cost the federal government $32.6 trillion over its first 10 years.

And that's vast understatement of its true costs, since the analysis assumes draconian payment cuts to providers and unrealistic savings on administrative and prescription drug costs. It also ignores the enormous cost of delays and rationing that invariably result from government-run health care.

Democrats pushing "Medicare for All" say that those costs are irrelevant, because people will no longer have to pay premiums or spend any money out of pocket.

What they don't say is that everyone would face huge tax increases to finance this government takeover of health care. Sanders' plan starts with an 8.4% hike in payroll taxes, sharply higher income tax rates and more. None of which would fully cover the exorbitant costs.

Phony Support For 'Medicare for All'

Democrats also point to surveys showing strong support for "Medicare for All." A Reuters-Ipsos poll found 70% backing it, including a majority of Republicans.

But that's because people have no idea what "Medicare for All" means.

When Reuters substituted the terms "single payer" or "government-run" health care, support collapsed to as little as 40%.

Even that's probably too high. A separate Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that almost half of Americans wrongly believe they could keep their existing health plans under a single-payer system. Incredibly, Democrats are the most ill-informed. The poll found 52% of Democrats think they'll be able to keep their health plans.

Still, lack of public support didn't stop Democrats from imposing ObamaCare on the nation eight years ago. And it won't stop them from imposing "Medicare for all" if they ever get the chance.

The only way to prevent such a disaster is to keep Democrats out of power, at least until their socialist fever breaks.

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