The Warren Plan to Paper Over the Costs of Medicare for All economics21.org/warren-plan-pa…
To summarize, the Warren proposal understates M4A’s costs, as quantified by multiple credible studies, by about 34.2%. Another 11.2% of the cost would be met by cutting payments to health providers such as physicians and hospitals.
Approximately 20% of the financing is sought by tapping sources that are unavailable for various reasons, for example because she has already committed that funding to other priorities, or because the savings from them was already assumed in the top-line cost estimate.
The remaining 34.6% would be met by an array of new and previous tax proposals, most of it consisting of new taxes affecting everyone now carrying employer-provided health insurance, including the middle class.
In sum, the Warren framework cannot fully finance Medicare for All because it does not acknowledge most of its costs. Over half of the purported financing is a mirage, consisting of either assuming away the costs (34.2%) or tapping financing sources that are unavailable (20.0%).
Of the lesser portion of M4A that would be realistically financed, the predominant shares would come from taxes shouldered by middle-class workers who currently carry employer-sponsored health insurance, and from steep payment cuts affecting physicians and hospitals.
