Question about Medicare 4 all, how would it cost more than the current system?

[Hoyt]

27. While it is something we need to do, Medicare for all will not be a lot

cheaper initially unless the government kicks in subsidies.

There are several reasons for this, but even the elderly have to pay the $140 every month, the 20% that Medicare doesn’t cover for most services, and the relatively small deductible UNLESS they also have Medicaid, purchase a supplemental policy including a drug plan, or sign up for Medicare Advantage.

Long-term, with some changes to the system, some people will pay less or nothing, but others will pay more in premiums or taxes. There still won’t be coverage for dental or vision care, or hearing aids, in most cases.

In any event, cost be damned, everyone deserves coverage and we need to restructure the system to make healthcare as affordable as possible, even if some healthcare providers and companies get hit.

People will of course say it will be cheaper, and maybe it will be. But it won’t be cheap. California, Colorado and Vermont found that the needed increase in taxes needed to fund a single payer system, while less than what most people were paying, were still to high to present it to constituents. Where one might be paying $700 in premiums now, they might end up paying $600 in premiums and/or taxes if we went to Medicare-for-All. That's an improvement, but not something that is going to make anyone dance.