If you pay attention to health care debates in Washington, you’ve probably heard the term Medicare for All.
But what is Medicare for All anyway?
It’s taxpayer-financed health care that would replace private health insurance.
In other words, if you’re looking for a health insurance plan, you have just one option: the federal government.
Choosing among health insurance companies can be frustrating, but you can pick the insurer that best fits your needs. Medicare for All takes that choice away in favor of a one-size-fits-all plan, with important consequences that extend well beyond your insurance coverage.
What is Medicare for All, and how would it work?
Today, about 180 million Americans get their health coverage through a private insurer. With Medicare for All, that system would vanish.
That’s because Medicare for All would prohibit private insurance companies from selling coverage that “duplicates the benefits provided” by the government.
The program would be financed through federal taxes rather than the private insurance premiums people pay today.
These changes aren’t just bureaucratic details. They have major implications for you.
Under Medicare for All, the federal government would determine which medical services are covered and how much doctors and hospitals would be paid to provide them. Instead of negotiating payment rates with different private insurers, health care providers would be paid according to rates established by the government.
That means if you need a service the government doesn’t cover, you’re on your own. And if government payment rates are too low, the doctor you’ve known and trusted for years might stop seeing you.
Medicare for All, explained: 3 things that would change for your family
Medicare for All could affect more than your choice of doctors and health insurance.
Here are three other ways a government-run system could change health care for you and your family:
- Your current plan would go away. Medicare for All would replace it with government-provided coverage, eliminating your ability to choose among private insurance plans.
- You’d likely wait much longer for care. In fact, that’s exactly what’s happened in other countries with taxpayer-financed health care systems
- Your taxes would probably go up. A 2018 Mercatus Center study estimated that Medicare for All would cost $32.6 trillion over 10 years.
That same study reported that “doubling all federal individual and corporate income tax collections” couldn’t even finance Medicare for All.
That means paying for Medicare for All could require the federal government to cut back elsewhere — on education, on border security, on caring for veterans.
The tradeoffs are huge, for you and for the country.
Another option: the Personal Option
The U.S. health insurance system could be easier to understand and more transparent. But there are ways to reform it without threatening access to the doctors you love or the treatment you need.
That’s where the Personal Option comes in.
The Personal Option is a set of four principles — not government mandates — meant to put you, not the government, in control of your health care.
They are:
- Giving Americans more health insurance options so you can find the plan that works best for you and your family
- Removing government barriers so you can see the doctor you want, whenever and however you want
- Putting an end to surprise medical bills so you can make more informed decisions and gain control of your health care spending
- Reforming the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process so that new drugs get to market faster and at lower cost without sacrificing safety
Policies such as expanded health savings accounts (HSAs) and a personal health care credit would give families more control over how they pay for health care.
Health care decisions are some of the most personal decisions you’ll ever make.
Under Medicare for All, the government would be making those choices for you.
That’s just not right. Not when there are other options for reform.
Americans want more choice in health care
When it comes to health insurance, Americans want change.
But they don’t want their existing health care to vanish:
- Half of voters want to keep what works in our health care system and fix what’s broken
- Nearly three-quarter of voters want the right to choose healthcare coverage that is right for them
- 69% of voters don’t want more government control of health care
We can fix America’s health insurance system without giving the government more control over our health care decisions or placing additional burdens on taxpayers.
Learn more about how the Personal Option would give patients more control over their health care.