Writing can feel like a solitary exercise but it isn’t really. Not in our connected age. For that, I’m grateful. After I wrote today about why Elizabeth Warren should never ever say that she’s going to raise taxes to pay for universal health care, I read this:
"If the Democrats run on Medicare for All, we will lose in a landslide. You cannot plan to rob every full-time worker in American of a significant part of their total compensation (the health insurance employers subsidize) and get elected."
That comment came from Burgs. I don’t know his, her or their real name. But I do know that’s a great point I haven’t heard much about. Warren and others supporting universal health care are right to talk about costs more than taxes. I don’t think anyone, however, has addressed this problem: the appearance of a pay cut.
Like or not, our economic system care has priced-in the cost of health insurance into the price of labor. If I’m right, and I’m open to correction, the program of universal health care that the Democrats are talking about might eliminate that cost, and in doing so give the appearance of a pay cut, even though there would be no such cut. You would still be taking home the same wages. Your gross pay would just be smaller.
As I said, open to correction. Maybe I’m overthinking this. What I do know is that I haven’t seen anyone debate this even on the level of political optics. Thoughts?
—John Stoehr
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I’m co-hosting a civics program in New Haven tonight. I hope you come.
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I'm an activist for M4A, and I agree that the movement needs to do deep education about what it will mean for people who now have excellent health insurance as part of their compensation package. We need a real plan that describes the incremental steps that are necessary to get to Medicare for All, that addresses the question of what will happen to people who have good health insurance now. Here in California, the California Physicians Alliance (caphysiciansalliance.org) is working on a Road Map that will get California to universal coverage, and then single payer, over time. The administrative changes to get paychecks into the pockets of doctors, nurses, etc. must be figured out and implemented; this can't happen overnight. We also need to be sure that people know that our systems of care (Kaiser cares for about 25% of Californians) will remain in place, and we will *still* be able to choose our providers.
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An equally large problem is that employers are not likely to pass on the savings they'd accrue from not having to buy insurance. That's not how capitalism works.
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