Ross: I’ve read Elizabeth Warren’s ‘Medicare for All’

Elizabeth Warren has posted the details of her Medicare for All plan. It takes a little over an hour to read. And the bottom line is, you get to keep your doctor, but not your private insurance plan.

Health insurance disappears, along with health insurance premiums, the concept of in-network vs out-of-network disappears, co-pays disappear, and all the people whose job it is to tell you “sorry, that’s not covered” disappear.

You’re free to choose your doctor and your hospital, and no matter the cost, the government pays, without an insurance company to say no.

As for what it leaves out. Well – it seems to me every program sooner or later has to say no to something. I doubt a meth addict would qualify for a heart transplant even under Medicare for All.

Also, since the government’s fee schedule would be lower than what private plans are paying, sure– you might be free to choose your doctor, but your doctor might just choose to become a veterinarian.

And then there’s the national memory of the Obamacare debut. If the government couldn’t handle a modest reform like that, can we trust it to replace the entire insurance industry?

However, we know radical change is never easy. Sometimes you just roll the dice and pray. And so tomorrow, why people might end up supporting Medicare for All despite the risks.

You can hear Dave’s commentary every morning on Seattle’s Morning News. Listen to Seattle’s Morning News weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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