Elizabeth Warren kept getting hammered at the debate last night over Medicare For All. The moderators wanted a simple Yes/No answer — will she raise taxes to pay for it. The problem is, it’s not something a yes/no answer can cover. She was also getting objections over the idea that people who like their insurance and their healthcare providers will be willing to give them up.
A free for all between a dozen candidates is not exactly the best place to go into this, not in a format designed to generate soundbites. There’s also the reality that anything proposed now still has to survive contact with Congress. (Martin Longman parses that reality in a piece that also covers his problems with M4A.)
I’m going to make a stab at sorting it out.
Assuming I heard correctly, Warren repeated several times that she would NOT sign a bill that raised taxes on the middle class. (Zed quotes her as saying “I will not sign a bill into law that does not lower costs for middle-class families.” Lovejoy also says she was talking about costs.) Taxes would go up for corporations and people on the top end. Bernie Sanders chimed in by pointing out M4A would mean no co-pays, deductibles, or lifetime limits. Sanders has also said taxes will go up — but costs will come down, so the net result is people end up with more money.
What Warren tried to get across about letting people keep their current plans if they don’t want to buy in to M4A is that means people who can afford their current insurance will be okay up to a point, but that will still leave people who aren’t covered if we don’t do M4A or expand Obamacare. She also pointed out that people with private insurance can still go broke when serious illness strikes — she’s spent years studying how that happens. But, it got lost in the crosstalk and the time limits.
(And kudos to the candidates who brought up the point that healthcare for women is under assault; M4A could be one part of the answer to that issue. The other, of course, is driving Republicans out of power.)
We could also talk about how to phase in M4A, where private plans might still have a place, and issues like covering eye, dental, and long-term care.
The big problem is the anti-tax indoctrination Republicans have been promoting for decades 24/7. Americans have been conditioned to freak out when they hear their taxes will go up — even if it is a better deal than the private sector will give them. So what kind of talking points can Democrats use to message on M4A? (Those who support it, that is?) Let me throw out a few, and if I’ve got it wrong, missed something, or someone has a better idea, share it in comments.
- If you pay taxes, you are already paying for Medicare — so why not be able to use it now?
- Expanding Medicare to cover everyone would strengthen Medicare for everyone.
- M4A means hospitals would no longer go broke providing care for people with no insurance, and wouldn’t need to shift their costs to those with insurance.
- M4A means you no longer lose coverage if you lose your job, change your job, or go into business for yourself.
- Giving everyone access to preventive care is the easiest way to control healthcare costs.
- No deductibles, co-pays or other out of pocket charges; no lifetime limits.
- No more outrageous drug prices.
- No insurance premiums.
- No insurance company paperwork complications, overhead, or out of plan issues.
That’s just off the top of my head. Other ideas? Now try to boil all that down to a soundbite. Maybe something like:
M4A or private insurance — you’ll still have to pay. M4A done right means you will pay less, nobody gets left out, and nobody has to lose everything just because they got sick.
That’s still better than the Republican plan: Don’t get sick, and if you do, die quickly. Perhaps Democrats should put more effort into getting that message out.