Reminder: Now More Than Ever, American Families Can’t Afford New Government-Controlled Health Insurance Systems

WASHINGTON – Today, more than ever, it is important Americans have access to high-quality, affordable health care coverage.  Unfortunately, calls for one-size-fits-all new government health insurance systems – like Medicare for All and the public option – would burden hardworking American families with new unaffordable costs and tax hikes. 

Medicare for All would cause American families to pay more to wait longer for worse care as they are forced into a one-size-fits-all new government health insurance system controlled by politicians.

Unaffordable Costs & Tax Hikes On American Families:

• Medicare For All would “require the equivalent of tripling payroll taxes or more than doubling all other taxes.” (Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget, 2/27/19)
• “Fully offsetting the cost” of Medicare for All “would require higher taxes on the middle class.” (Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget, 10/22/19)
• Under Medicare for All “71% of households with private insurance would wind up paying more than they would under the current system.” (The Wall Street Journal, 10/17/19)
• Under Medicare for All, “federal spending on health care would increase by roughly $34 trillion.” (CNN, 10/16/19)
• “Government spending on health care would increase substantially under a single-payer system.” (Congressional Budget Office, 5/1/19)
• One study found that Medicare for All would eliminate 1.8 million American jobs. (POLITICO, 11/25/19)

New government-controlled health insurance systems – namely the public option and Medicare buy-in – are not “moderate” alternatives to Medicare for All and could ultimately lead to the same unaffordable consequences over time as Medicare for All would cause overnight.

Unaffordable Costs & Tax Hikes On American Families

• The public option “could require tax increases on most Americans, including middle-income families” and could “add over $700 billion to the 10-year federal deficit, with dramatically larger losses in subsequent years.” (Tom Church, Daniel L. Heil & Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D., Hoover Institution, 1/24/20)
• A politically realistic public option could lead to a new 4.8 percent payroll tax on American families over 30 years – far higher than the combined Medicare payroll tax Americans pay today. (Tom Church, Daniel L. Heil & Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D., Hoover Institution, 1/24/20)
• Over 30 years, the public option would become the third most expensive government program behind only Medicare and Social Security – both of which are at risk for the seniors who rely on them. (Tom Church, Daniel L. Heil & Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D., Hoover Institution, 1/24/20)
• The public option could add as much as $700 billion to the federal deficit in its first 10 years. (Tom Church, Daniel L. Heil & Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D., Hoover Institution, 1/24/20)
• While proponents try to claim the public option could reduce costs by reimbursing providers at Medicare rates, recent history at both the federal and state levels demonstrates that putting politicians in charge of a new government-controlled health insurance system could lead to higher costs and tax burdens for American families. (Tom Church, Daniel L. Heil & Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D., Hoover Institution, 1/24/20)