Last Wednesday, a solid chunk of the nation watched President Donald Trump’s former fixer, lawyer Michael Cohen, testify for most of the day in the U.S. House. People wondered if this was what Watergate was like (it was not). But for all of the spectacle, we do not think there was a single person who tuned in for most or some of Cohen’s testimony – which painted Trump as a bigot, a cheat and a liar – who said, “I never realized this is what Trump was like.” There was plenty of heat but it was mostly in the dark.
Last Wednesday was also the day that progressive House Democrats introduced their most sweeping attempt at health care reform. Sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, and Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, the bill, which has more than 100 co-sponsors, calls for “a two-year transformation of Medicare into a universal single-payer system, eliminating nearly all private health plans.” It would expand Medicare coverage to include prescription drugs, dental and vision services, without charging co-pays, premiums or deductibles.”
Where do we sign up?
On Thursday, there were reports of health insurance stocks dropping, partly in response to it. How seriously Democratic leaders take it is another story. We know Speaker Nancy Pelosi is against it and that health care industries have hired a former Hillary Clinton campaign lieutenant to attack it. Now is the time for the progressives to use their new star power and stand firm.
What we have envisioned, to break the logjam of health care, to end the incremental and pointless tinkering, is a bill the Democratic-led House could pass in this session and that a Democrat could run on in the 2020 election.
What will this cost?
We have not been converted to modern monetary theory, which essentially holds that cost does not matter since the U.S. can print more money. Of course, it will cost – probably trillions of dollars. The lead sponsors have not detailed that yet (they say they will, separately). But the key – for us – is that we are not talking about having to raise trillions of dollars in new revenue.
According to the government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in 2017, the U.S. spent $3.5 trillion on health care, or $10,739 per person. By eliminating some profit-taking and reducing and re-directing some of the now-exorbitant consumer spending, what it will cost must be less than what we are already shelling out.
We do not think Congress has the power to eliminate all private health plans, but we think it can compete with insurers and finally offer most Americans what they want, and what the private sector has shown itself unable to provide – affordable access to health care.
Those who want to pay more for private insurance or physicians can. What we envision is less coercive than the late Affordable Care Act’s mandate, while it offers much more.
Now, the progressive Democrats have to convince their recalcitrant leadership that this is not too radical, that if they stick together, they can give the people what they want, turn a deaf ear to the industry lobbies that are clinging to Obamacare and do something spectacular.
