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Alfresco

(1,698 posts)
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 07:30 AM Jan 2016

Des Moines Register - Sanders may not release health plan costs by caucus day

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/01/13/clinton-camp-sanders-needs-deliver-healthcare-details/78743204/

Excerpt:

[email protected] 5:38 p.m. CST January 13, 2016

News that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders may not release tax details of his universal health care plan before Iowans go to caucus on Feb. 1 sparked a heated back-and-forth between his campaign and that of his chief rival, Hillary Clinton.

As part of his populist campaign focused on working and middle-class Americans, Sanders is calling for a "Medicare-for-all" national health insurance program that would effectively negate the role of private insurers. While he had pledged to release full tax plans before Iowans vote, his national campaign manager on Wednesday told CNN that the specific tax implications of the health care plan may not be released this month.

Hillary Clinton's campaign wasted no time in pouncing on the announcement, slamming Sanders on Wednesday in a press call on the issue.

"I think one can only draw the conclusion that the Sanders campaign does not want to outline what would amount to a massive across the board tax increase," said Jake Sullivan, senior policy adviser for Hillary for America. "They want to essentially create a circumstance in which they try to lead voters to believe they can implement single-payer health care at no burden to anyone and everyone would be better off."
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Des Moines Register - Sanders may not release health plan costs by caucus day (Original Post) Alfresco Jan 2016 OP
I draw the conclusion that it is complicated and they want to get it right. Warren Stupidity Jan 2016 #1
My first thought also. safeinOhio Jan 2016 #4
"Politifact: Bernie Sanders’ Healthcare Plan Will SAVE Every American Family $1,200/Year" Green Forest Jan 2016 #2
they did no such thing dsc Jan 2016 #3
Well your case may be an amazing exception, however the average worker is paying Warren Stupidity Jan 2016 #5
under the VT plan dsc Jan 2016 #8
+1 stonecutter357 Jan 2016 #12
Can you believe how many anti-single payer advocates are suddenly popping up? beam me up scottie Jan 2016 #9
Some people do seem to be getting very antsy, dont they? Warren DeMontague Jan 2016 #14
I don't think it is out of line dsc Jan 2016 #15
According to Politifact Bernie has only submitted a proposal. The actual plan is still a secret. Alfresco Jan 2016 #6
According to the US Senate Sanders filed a bill in 2013 that is on the public record. Warren Stupidity Jan 2016 #7
yeah but that doesn't have any of the financials Warren msanthrope Jan 2016 #11
Still a lot of gaps to fill in, i.e. no word on deductibles and co-pays yet BeyondGeography Jan 2016 #10
K&R! stonecutter357 Jan 2016 #13
DEAD Horse Thread sonofspy777 Jan 2016 #16
Until Bernie keeps his word and releases his full tax plan. Bernie is a man of his word, is he not? Alfresco Jan 2016 #18
Clinton is now campaining against Single Payer health insuance Tom Rinaldo Jan 2016 #17
 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
1. I draw the conclusion that it is complicated and they want to get it right.
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 07:38 AM
Jan 2016

But you are free to draw whatever conclusions you wish.

 

Green Forest

(232 posts)
2. "Politifact: Bernie Sanders’ Healthcare Plan Will SAVE Every American Family $1,200/Year"
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 07:39 AM
Jan 2016
http://usuncut.com/news/bernie-sanders-healthcare-plan-would-save-the-average-american-family-1200/

Meanwhile Hillary, Chelsea, and Hillary's campaign continue to lie about Bernie's plan. The more they do, the more they look desperate and confirm the fact that Hillary is a shameless liar and hypocrite (in 2008, she decried Democratic infighting about universal health area).

Caucus goers know the score. Bernie will win Iowa without getting in the mud.

dsc

(52,130 posts)
3. they did no such thing
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 07:42 AM
Jan 2016

one it is an average figure, two it was a range. People like me, and there are more than a few of us, whose employers pay the lions share of our premiums will see virtually no savings but a massive tax increase, which he is unwilling to spell out before we vote. My employer will pocket any savings (use them to give tax cuts to the rich).

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
5. Well your case may be an amazing exception, however the average worker is paying
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 07:50 AM
Jan 2016

around 1,000/month for health care for family coverage, as of 2015. That number includes ALL of the costs, the employee portion of insurance and all of the other out of pocket costs.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/09/23/costs-continue-to-shift-to-employees-in-health-insurance-plans

So I guess for you it would just outright suck, but then again it isn't all about you, is it?

dsc

(52,130 posts)
8. under the VT plan
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 08:44 AM
Jan 2016

I would be faced with a 4,500 increase in my taxes on an income of 50,000. It would be a rather substantial amount of money to be honest. At the very least, Sanders should be leveling with people in my position about just what costs we would be incurring before we vote.

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
9. Can you believe how many anti-single payer advocates are suddenly popping up?
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 08:47 AM
Jan 2016

I thought most of DU wanted universal healthcare?

Must be that famous old 'I've got mine' attitude again.

dsc

(52,130 posts)
15. I don't think it is out of line
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 09:30 AM
Jan 2016

to request that I at least be told, before voting, just how much I would be paying each year. I might be willing to pay it to avoid the risk of a major illness causing a major expense, but I at least should be told, explicitly, what that amount of money is.

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
7. According to the US Senate Sanders filed a bill in 2013 that is on the public record.
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 08:16 AM
Jan 2016
https://www.healthcare-now.org/legislation/american-health-security-act/


The American Health Security Act of 2013 (S. 1782) provides every American with affordable and comprehensive health care services through the establishment of a national American Health Security Program (the Program) that requires each participating state to set up and administer a state single payer health program. The Program provides universal health care coverage for the comprehensive services required under S. 1782 and incorporates Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and TRICARE (the Department of Defense health care program), but maintains health care programs under the Veterans Affairs Administration. Private health insurance sold by for-profit companies could only exist to provide supplemental coverage.

The cornerstones of the Program will be fixed, annual, and global budgets, public accountability, measures of quality based on outcomes data designed by providers and patients, a national data-collection system with uniform reporting by all providers, and a progressive financing system. It will provide universal coverage, benefits emphasizing primary and preventive care, and free choice of providers. Inpatient services, long term care, a broad range of services for mental illness and substance abuse, and care coordination services will also be covered.


https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1782/text

113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1782

To provide for health care for every American and to control the cost and enhance the quality of the health care system.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 9, 2013
Mr. Sanders introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL
To provide for health care for every American and to control the cost and enhance the quality of the health care system.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “American Health Security Act of 2013”.


SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF THE SENATE.
(a) Findings.—Congress finds as follows:

(1) While the United States of America spends on average nearly twice as much per capita on health care services as the next most costly nation, the United States ranks 32d among all nations on life expectancy, and 41st on infant mortality.

(2) The number of uninsured Americans held at an unacceptable rate of 15.7 percent in 2011, more than 48,000,000 Americans.

(3) This is the result of a continued decline in private health coverage, primarily in employer-sponsored insurance.

(4) Small businesses around the country cannot afford to reinvest in their companies and create new jobs because their health care bills are going up 10 or 15 percent every year.

(5) American businesses are at an economic disadvantage, because their health care costs are so much higher than in other countries. Notably, automobile manufacturers spend more on health care per automobile than on steel.

(b) Sense Of The Senate Concerning Urgency Of A Medicare-For-All Type Single Payer Health Care System.—It is the sense of the Senate that the 113th Congress should enact a Medicare-for-All Single Payer Health Care System to make American companies more competitive and to stimulate job creation.

(c) Sense Of The Senate Concerning The Status Of Health Care.—It is the sense of the Senate that the 113th Congress should recognize and proclaim that health care is a human right.

(d) Sense Of The Senate Concerning State Flexibility.—It is the sense of the Senate that in order to provide high quality health care coverage for all Americans while controlling costs in order to make American companies more competitive, individual States should be given maximum flexibility in designing health care programs to improve the individual experience of care and the health of populations, and to reduce the per capita costs of care for each State.

(e) Sense Of The Senate Concerning A New Health Care System.—It is the sense of the Senate that—

(1) a new single payer health care system should build on achievements and commitments in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–152), to strengthen primary care and public health, to raise the quality of patient care, to develop new models of patient care, to develop the capacity of the healthcare workforce, to increase transparency in the payment of health care system costs, and to strengthen enforcement against fraud and abuse;

(2) the possibilities of achieving efficiencies through integrated care are within reach with the spread of electronic support systems, health information exchanges, and the possibilities for virtual integration and instant communication; and

(3) policies should be put in place to ensure higher quality, better prevention, and lower per capita costs, including—

(A) global budget caps on total health care spending;

(B) measurement of and fixed accountability for the health status and health needs of designated populations;

(C) improved standardized measures of care and per capita costs across sites and through time that are transparent; and

(D) changes in professional education curricula to ensure that clinicians are enabled to change and improve their processes of care.


SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
11. yeah but that doesn't have any of the financials Warren
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 08:49 AM
Jan 2016

The financials that Bernie was supposed to supplement before the Iowa caucuses.

Tom Rinaldo

(22,911 posts)
17. Clinton is now campaining against Single Payer health insuance
Thu Jan 14, 2016, 09:59 AM
Jan 2016

Gone are the days when establishment and center left Democrats hid behind the argument that although Single Payer has a lot going for it, it is simply not possible to get such a system established here because the American public and political system are too resistant to it. That is the line that Barack Obama took when he worked on his Affordable Care Act proposals. He essentially said that Single Payer is a political non starter but he did not argue against its merits and advantages.

When Clinton says something like the following she is intentionally framing Single Payer in a negative light, by belittling what it has to offer the American people and by stressing Republican talking points against it - conveniently leaving out the financial windfall that our families and the economy itself will benefit from by no longer having to pay premiums to the private sector in order to have health insurance. She also omits any acknowledgement of the mention the cost cutting efficiency that a Single Payer system offers America.

"I think one can only draw the conclusion that the Sanders campaign does not want to outline what would amount to a massive across the board tax increase," said Jake Sullivan, senior policy adviser for Hillary for America. "They want to essentially create a circumstance in which they try to lead voters to believe they can implement single-payer health care at no burden to anyone and everyone would be better off."

That is the type of statement I expect to read from someone like Ted Cruz, not from someone who bills herself as "a progressive Democrat".

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