MANCHESTER, NH — Cathy Albisa of the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative sits calmy and confidently on the stage at the NH Institute of Politics in front of a crowd of about 100 people who have come to engage in a conversation about Medicare for All. To her right is Michael Lighty of the Sanders Institute and to her left is Robert Pollin from the Political Economy Research Institute at UMass Amherst. She lifts the microphone and says, ‘When it comes to reforming our healthcare system we have been asking the wrong questions. Instead of asking how we can afford to make sure everyone has access to healthcare, the question we should be asking is, How can we afford not to?”
As the 2020 elections approach, the cost of healthcare has emerged as the number one topic that voters want to hear presidential candidates discuss. Michael Lighty, who served as Director of Public Policy for National Nurses United before going to the Sanders Institute, tells the audience that this group of people can make Medicare of All an issue in the presidential primary. Indeed, support for Medicare for All and whether there is a place for private health insurance has become a litmus test among Democratic candidates for president.
Medicare for All would replace private health insurance with a public health care program that would cover everyone. Two bills are making their way through Congress, a House bill sponsored by Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) and a Senate bill sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).
The event on July 13, was sponsored by Rights & Democracy, Southern NH DSA, Granite State Physicians for a National Health Program, and Unitarian Universalist Action of NH. According to Heather Stockwell, healthcare organizer for Rights & Democracy, “The purpose of this event is to bring people together to hear their questions and concerns about Medicare for All and provide them with answers. We want them to leave here ready to talk to others about how to reform our broken healthcare system.”
Economist Robert Pollin authored a financial analysis of Senator Bernie Sanders 2017 Medicare for All Bill. He is currently working on a similar analysis of the Jayapal bill. There are two features of Medicare for All that he believes everyone should know. First, the goal of the program is to provide everyone with good, quality care and second, it is cheaper.
Currently the United States spends about $3.4Trillion on healthcare or about 18 percent of GDP. Other countries like Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, and Australia spend 9-11percent of their GDP on healthcare. They have higher rates of satisfaction and better outcomes. The United States ranks 35th in preventable deaths and our life expectancy is declining.
According to Pollin about $2 trillion of Healthcare costs in the United States are already covered by federal dollars through programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Administration. He proposes covering the remainder of the cost, the part that is covered by insurance premiums from individuals and businesses with a combination of a federal 3.5 percent sales tax on non-necessities, a business tax, and a wealth tax of .38 percent. The business tax would work out to an 8 percent decrease in the amount businesses currently pay for private insurance premiums.
Medicare for All is also touted as a way to control healthcare costs. Critics have argued that if hospitals and healthcare providers have to rely solely on Medicare reimbursements, which are lower than what private insurers pay, they will go out of business. Pollin says that with more people using the system and the elimination of much of the administrative costs that it will even out.
Adrian George of Nashua, one of the organizers of the event, tells the crowd, “We need to start thinking like a community again.” Photo/Kathy Staub
Speakers at the event are not limited to experts. Several people tell personal stories of how the healthcare system has failed them and their family members. Stories about denial of coverage by insurance companies, exhausting amounts of paperwork, and lack of access to needed care leading to financial struggles and tragedy.
Referring back to the speakers, who spoke about their difficulties accessing treatment for family members with disabilities and mental health issues, Lighty tells the audience, “Mental Health and disability treatments and services are not profitable for insurance companies and that is why they are not covered. If the profit motive is removed, care for mental health issues and disabilities, can be covered just like everything else.”
From the audience Dr. Ken Dolkart asks the panel, “We’ve heard a lot about the economics of the Medicare for All Plan, but how do we make it politically viable?” Lighty responds that it will take leaders who are willing to take on the insurance companies. “We can make this a ‘which side are you on?’ issue in the New Hampshire Primary.”
Albisa adds, “When you have a system that is equitable, it tends to be politically strong. When you start to see inequality, that is when you begin to see political tension. It should be the role of society to provide healthcare as a human right. You might want to buy five houses if you’re rich, but you won’t want to get your appendix out five times. However you feel about private markets, there is no way that health care belongs in the private market”.
