Health Reform Is Hard

by Paul Krugman

Jan 18, 2016

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/18/health-reform-is-hard/?comments#permid=17260636

As someone who became politically conscious during high school in Germany, I have always considered myself a Social Democrat in the European tradition. So I tend to agree with most of Bernie's criticisms of the extreme laissez fairs market economy practiced in the US, including the free market emphasis of the US health care system.

Where I part ways with Bernie Sanders is his almost exclusive reliance on a "huge social revolution" when he is asked for policy specifics on how he will implement his ideas - that just is not going to happen; quite the contrary, the Congress will most likely remain unde GOP control.

When finally pushed to actually come up with specifics on how he would fund "Medicare for all", his numbers are complete fantasy. His promise of $500-$600 total annual out of pocket cost for health care for the average American family is completely disingenuous. In typical politician fashion he also obfuscates the true cost for health care by combining various taxes in a completely non-transparent way. Just like Medicare (and like many European single payer systems) the taxes for healthcare should be explicitly and transparently collected through a payroll tax, separate from income tax.

Hillary is right - given the political reality of US politics, trying to replace ObamaCare with a single payer system would endanger the very precarious gains that have been made in the US health care system under Obama.