Preparations have begun and plans are being drawn for the 2020 presidential campaign. As candidates make their way to your backyard to discuss their agenda, you can count on health care reform being high on the list of policy topics discussed.
Both proposals, Medicare for All (M4A) and Medicare at 50 (buy-in plans), are sure to make their way into campaign speeches across the country. With much debate, voters are likely to back candidates that take a strong stance on the topic — one way or another.
With boundless political partisanship on the topic, there is one major aspect to discuss with all politics set aside: What will the proposals mean to the U.S. health care system as a whole?
Medicare for All
Having a single-payer system has been proposed multiple times in the U.S., all with little chance of being passed. However, the current Medicare for All proposal is led by presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, along with 14 co-sponsors in the Senate — the most momentum a proposal of its kind has had up to this point. The bill aims to:
- Form a single-payer, government-run plan that would cover U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike for services like:
- Primary and preventive care
- Prescription drugs
- Dental and vision care
- Mental health and substance abuse treatment
- Maternity care
- Long-term care and more
Amidst conflicting statistics on the proposal's popularity among Americans, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 55 percent of U.S. voters believe that "Medicare for All" would allow an option for those without insurance to receive coverage, but do not view it as a complete elimination of private insurance.
Impact on hospitals
There is no question that when it comes to payments, doctors and hospitals get paid out significantly less by original Medicare than by private insurance companies. The American Hospital Association found that in 2016, Medicare covered an average of 0.87 of every dollar spent on care, while private insurance companies cover 145 percent of the hospitals' costs.
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