Coronavirus Has Made a Fool Out of Every Single Critic of Medicare for All
When the pandemic began, defenders of our for-profit health system — including many Democrats — scrambled to insist we didn't need a Medicare for All system. Yet new infections are still surging in the US while countries with national health care programs have long since gotten a handle on coronavirus.
A doctor and a nurse review the clinical records of a COVID-19 patient. (Leopoldo Smith / Getty Images)
When the novel coronavirus first arrived in the United States, it spurred on remarkable messaging discipline among America’s political class. The consensus that emerged on both sides of the aisle dictated that no matter what happened, Americans ought to be glad they do not live in a country with socialized medicine.
At the final Democratic presidential debate on March 15, former vice president Joe Biden pointed to COVID-19 numbers in Italy as evidence that not only was Medicare for All not a solution to the crisis, but it would put the country at greater risk.
“With all due respect for Medicare for All, you have a single-payer system in Italy,” the former vice president said. “It doesn’t work there. It has nothing to do with Medicare for All. That would not solve the problem at all.”
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