Medicare for All Isn’t Too Expensive
When opponents say Medicare for All is too pricey, they're really saying they oppose any substantial effort to deliver universal, quality care.
A doctor reads a blood pressure gauge during an examination of a patient at the Codman Square Health Center, April 11, 2006 in Dorchester, MA. Joe Raedle / Getty
Opponents of Medicare for All warn that the cost will scare people away. They speak in panicked tones about trillions of dollars in additional spending and flash alarmist chyrons across TV screens.
But the truth is that, because of the way the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scores health care policy, any significant effort to reform health care in a progressive way is going to suffer from the exact same “big number problem” as Medicare for All.
The “big number problem” is the simple fact that the United States currently spends a lot of money on health care, some of which the CBO considers part of the federal budget and the rest of which it treats as private spending. Redirecting or reclassifying that private spending as public spending would technically result in a big increase in the federal budget.
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