Republicans are nonetheless answerable for the White House and the Senate, however the “Medicare-for-all” debate is in full swing. Democrats of each stripe are pledging help for a variety of variations on the theme of increasing well being protection to all Americans.
This week, KHN’s “What the Health?” podcast takes a deep dive into the often-confusing Medicare-for-all debate, together with its historical past, prospects and terminology.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call.
Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:
Medicare-for-all is a brand new rallying cry for progressives, however the present Medicare program has huge limitations. It doesn’t cowl most long-term care bills, and consists of no protection of listening to, dental, imaginative and prescient or foot care. Medicare additionally consists of no stop-loss or catastrophic care restrict that protects beneficiaries from large payments. Though current feedback by Sen. Kamala Harris on eliminating personal insurance coverage with a transfer to Medicare-for-all stirred controversy, personal insurance coverage is certainly concerned in lots of facets of the federal government program. Private corporations present the Medicare Advantage plans utilized by greater than a 3rd of beneficiaries, the Medicare drug plans and far of the invoice processing for the whole program. Many customers — and politicians — are confused by the phrases being thrown round within the present debate about Medicare-for-all. The plan supplied by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and a few of his supporters can be a “single-payer” system, through which the federal government can be answerable for paying for all well being care — though docs, hospitals and different well being care suppliers would stay personal. Others usually use the time period Medicare-for-all to imply a a lot much less drastic change to the U.S. well being care system, similar to a “public option” that may supply particular teams of individuals — maybe these over age 50 or customers buying protection on the insurance coverage marketplaces — the chance to purchase into Medicare protection. Sanders’ imaginative and prescient of Medicare-for-all relies on Canada’s system. But even there, hospitals and docs are personal companies, medicine usually are not coated in all places, and advantages differ among the many provinces. The well being care business is sort of united in opposing the discuss of shifting to a Medicare-for-all program due to considerations about disruption to the system and fewer pay. Currently, Medicare reimbursements are about 40 p.c decrease than personal insurance coverage.
If you need to know extra concerning the subsequent huge well being coverage debate, listed below are some articles to get you began:
Vox’s “Private Health Insurance Exists in Europe and Canada. Here’s How It Works,” by Sarah Kliff
The Washington Post’s “How Democrats Could Lose on Health Care in 2020,” by Ronald A. Klain
The American Prospect’s “The Pleasant Illusions of the Medicare-for-All Debate,” by Paul Starr
The Week’s “Why Do Democrats Think Expanding ObamaCare Would Be Easier Than Passing Medicare-for-All?” by Jeff Spross
Vox’s “How to Build a Medicare-for-All Plan, Explained By Somebody Who’s Thought About It for 20 Years,” by Dylan Scott
The New York Times’ “The Best Health Care System in the World: Which One Would You Pick?” By Aaron E. Carroll and Austin Frakt
The Nation’s “Medicare-for-All Isn’t the Solution for Universal Health Care,” by Joshua Holland
The New York Times’ “’Don’t Get Too Excited’ About Medicare for All,” by Elisabeth Rosenthal and Shefali Luthra
Plus, for further credit score, the panelists suggest their favourite well being coverage tales of the week they assume you need to learn too.
Julie Rovner: Yahoo News’ “What Trump Got Wrong About ‘Right to Try,’” by Kadia Tubman
Joanne Kenen: STAT News’ “The Modern Tragedy of Fake Cancer Cures,” by Matthew Herper
Rebecca Adams: The Texas Tribune’s “Thousands of Texans Were Shocked By Surprise Medical Bills. Their Requests for Help Overwhelmed the State,” by Jay Root and Shannon Najmabadi
Paige Winfield Cunningham: STAT News’ “The ‘Big Pharma’ Candidate? As He Runs for President, Cory Booker Looks to Shake His Reputation for Drug Industry Coziness,” by Lev Facher
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