As Sen. Alex Padilla, D-CA, and others in Washington keep pressing the federal Medicare for All Act, new polling shows most people are satisfied with their own health coverage.
The poll commissioned by the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute (PRI), found that 86 percent of Americans are satisfied with their current health insurance plans, compared to 8 percent who said dissatisfied.
“The poll results demonstrate that socializing the healthcare system through Medicare for All would eliminate the health insurance coverage that not only most Americans have, but are overwhelmingly satisfied with,” Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow in business and economics at PRI, said in an email response to the Northern California Record.
“Medicare for All is a recipe for worse healthcare for all; our poll helps bring balance to the debate by demonstrating that people are generally satisfied with their current health insurance,” Winegarden said. “There are undoubtedly flaws that must be addressed but radical reforms like Medicare for All will make things worse not better.”
Instead, reforms should be tailored to fix the flaws, Winegarden said.
“Once the inherent instability and uneconomical reimbursements of Medicare are considered, the poll demonstrates the sheer folly of trying to socialize the entire healthcare system,” Winegarden said. “It is, figuratively, an attempt to fix problems with a house's foundation by burning it down.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2022, which has 14 co-sponsors, including Padilla and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA.
The projected cost is in the trillions.
“Even Senator Sanders’ estimate of costs of only $34 trillion over 10 years comes to an average cost of $23,500 a year per taxpayer,” Winegarden said. “More realistic assessments (of at least $55 trillion) would nearly double those costs to $38,110 per taxpayer per year. These costs are in addition to all current taxes. It demonstrates the sheer unaffordability of the program.”
And made even less feasible given the increased financial burden Americans face as prices and interest rates continue rising, Winegarden said.
“Inflation has caused significant affordability problems for the average American,” Winegarden said. “Increasing taxes will impose further stress on families at a time they are already struggling to cover their basic cost of living.”
Nor would Medicare for All guarantee any type of better outcome for patients.
“Medicare currently reimburses providers at uneconomical rates,” Winegarden said. “Assuming this trend would continue (if not worsen) under Medicare for All, it would severely constrain people's access to care as well as the quality of care people will receive. The long queues that people living in countries with fully socialized healthcare (see: Canada and the U.K.) must endure will come to the U.S. People living with chronic conditions will suffer the most in terms of increased mortality.”
Earlier this year California failed to pass a similar bill despite pressure from progressives, but it remains unclear what support the program would garner in the U.S. Senate.
“The threat is there; this is why education on the issue is so important,” Winegarden said. “We hope the poll helps people gain perspective on not only what is wrong with the current system, but what is right too. Only with an accurate understanding of both the flaws and the strengths of the current system can we improve healthcare for all.”