WEBINARS

ESSENTIAL WORK: MOBILIZING TO WIN MEDICARE FOR ALL

ARTICLES

"The Fight for Medicare for All Made Some Important Progress in 2020"

The fight for Medicare for All is one of the most important in the United States today. HCFANC board member Jonathan Michels investigates how, despite the many horrors of 2020, the movement demanding an end to our privatized health system actually made some headway this year. The article was originally published by Jacobin Magazine.

"Biden Ran on a Return To Normalcy, but There's Nothing Normal About the American Health Care System"

HCFANC board members Dr. Jonathan Kotch and Jonathan Michels examine how compromise and half-measures under President Biden will not be enough to fix our dysfunctional healthcare system. The article was originally published by Common Dreams.

RESEARCH

"Pricing Universal Health Care: How Much Would The Use of Medical Care Rise?"

Paper estimates a 7-10% increase in outpatient visits, and a 0-3% increase in hospital use under single-payer Medicare for All. Why so small? Because while previously uninsured and underinsured Americans would increase their utilization of health care services, this would be offset by a decrease in unnecessary, or even counterproductive, care that is currently delivered to privately insured patients.

The authors found that the current supply of doctors and hospitals places a necessary short-term cap on any surge in utilization. Our health care delivery system can’t accommodate a 20-30% surge in demand for medically necessary care. But the more realistic predicted increases could be accommodated by easing the administrative burdens on health care providers (which single payer would do) and by hiring additional clinical staff, which a streamlined health system would free up the resources to do.

"CBO Analyzes the Costs of Proposals for Single-Payer Health Care Systems"

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzed four different single-payer designs and found that a single-payer system would save $42 billion to $743 billion in 2030 alone.

Matt Bruenig of the People's Policy Project wrote about the landmark CBO report: "The study confirms what serious Medicare for All analysts have known for some time now. It is possible to provide high-quality public health insurance to every person in the country while also saving money overall on health spending. The barriers to the policy are not technical deficiencies or costs, but rather political opposition from Republicans and conservative Democrats who would rather spend more money to provide less health care."