Some free-market health care proponents think that universal health care supporters want free, unlimited health care no matter what the price. They are wrong. After reading about $600 EpiPens, $84,000 per treatment Hepatitis-C drugs and $1 million cancer treatment bills, most people are willing to settle for less.

There are, however, some people that want unlimited health care, including former Democratic candidate for president, Bernie Sanders. Sanders advocates for comprehensive universal health care. According to his website, his (Medicare For All) "plan will cover the entire continuum of health care, from inpatient to outpatient care; preventive to emergency care; primary care to specialty care, including long-term and palliative care; vision, hearing and oral health care; mental health and substance abuse services; as well as prescription medications, medical equipment, supplies, diagnostics and treatments. Patients will be able to choose a health care provider without worrying about whether that provider is in-network and will be able to get the care they need without having to read any fine print or trying to figure out how they can afford the out-of-pocket costs."

But things have changed since Sanders first shared his vision of comprehensive universal health care. One, he lost in the presidential primaries and his platform for comprehensive universal health care disappeared. Two, large, private insurer, Aetna, made a showy announcement of leaving the public exchanges causing some to question the future of health care reform. Three, reality started to sink in as the threat of large premium increases became fact. Cries of Medicare For All have changed to Medicaid For All.

Medicaid For All has all the advantages of Medicare For All. It is an established program often administered by private insurance companies and has lower reimbursement rates than exchange or private insurance plans. And, some think we have already moved in the direction of Medicaid like health plans on the public exchanges. Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times recently characterized public exchange plans as Medicaid plans but with a high deductible. She may be right. The exchanges are chock full of HMO and narrow network plans. These plans are popular with exchange plan purchasers because they are often the only affordable option. But that doesn’t mean people like or want them (especially those of us paying full cost for these plans).

So, if Medicaid For All is the route to comprehensive universal health care, the price for all individual health plans will need to come down for everyone. And for comprehensive universal health care to happen employer health insurance needs to go away.

Tags: Medicaid For All