Thread by @timoreilly

I really enjoy the @NYTimes Daily podcast, but their episode on Medicare for All ended with a very shallow economic analysis, saying something like “the plan would cost $30 trillion, and how are we going to pay for it?”

nyti.ms/2HlJY1s

@nytimes Here are some of my objections:

1. They left out that that is a ten year number.

2. It appears to have been calculated simply by multiplying the entire US healthcare spend (about $3T per year) by ten.

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@nytimes 3. It leaves out the fact that the current Medicare program already covers $600B/year (i.e. $6T of their $30T)

4. It leaves out the fact that Americans ARE ALREADY paying this amount, just by different means

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@nytimes 5. It leaves out the fact that US healthcare costs are the highest in the world, and we would save about 30% if we matched other developed countries with universal healthcare systems.

In short, this was a shoddy piece of reporting from a podcast that I expect a lot more of.