We've been told over and over that Medicare for All is "too radical."

[Uncle Joe]

Link to tweet

[brooklynite]

1. Nobody here disputes the value...we dispute the ability to win an Election on the issue

Bernie has had multiple opportunities to sell MfA to the Democratic electorate, and he's failed to do so.

[Frasier Balzov]

6. This pandemic may actually change attitudes about MfA.

MfA could become an election-winning issue through a rather sudden awakening precipitated by the crisis.

[KPN]

2. Sanders speaks truthfully, consistently. No one else like him.

[zackymilly]

3. Sorry, but...LOL n/t

[George II]

7. Why hasn't he been able to get any of his "consistent" proposals enacted in almost 30 years? But....

...you're right, there is "no one else like him."

[nolawarlock]

11. We do agree on this.

I've never seen any political contender with so many great ideals and yet so few great ideas.

[NurseJackie]

19. There's NOTHING truthful about "there's no difference between the Democrats and the GOP". There's...

Sanders speaks truthfully, consistently. No one else like him.

There's NOTHING truthful about "there's no difference between the Democrats and the GOP". There's NOTHING truthful about "the Democrats are corrupt" or "the Democrats are feeble" or "the Democrats are intellectually bankrupt" or "the Democratic party is an absolute failure". There's NOTHING truthful about "the Democrats don't care about climate change" or "the Democrats focus too much on diversity". None of those things are true.

But you're right about being "consistent" that's for sure. Oh... but I can think of at least a DOZEN others just like him. He's not unique.

All I'm trying to say here is that it really serves NO good purpose for the lies and smears and attacks and negativity. Negativity generates apathy. Apathy discourages voter turnout. Low voter turnout gives Republicans a chance to steal the elections.

[PatSeg]

4. So Bernie takes a very real crisis

and turns it into his stump speech, a speech we've heard over and over again. Right now, people need very real short-term solutions, not some future Medicare-for-All plan.

[George II]

5. John Dingell proposed "this" in 1943, and every year he was in the House. Jr. agreed and....

...introduced it every year HE was in the House, and his wife Debbie introduced it since she's occupied the seat.

The difference is none of them have used the faux moniker "Medicare" for all, which is a misnomer.

[Meadowoak]

10. We have an electorate that is too ignorant to understand the proper term , single payer.

[nolawarlock]

12. Or some of us disagree with M4A without a private option ...

… I never go to an amusement park without first checking if they have options to get me ahead of the line at the rollercoaster. If there's a way to pay more to wait less, I want that option.

[Cozmo]

8. Have I been asleep

or has anyone addressed the fact that Medicare is a bureaucratic nightmare in it's current state. I am vehemently in favor of health care for all, it's a humanitarian right. But, as a recipient of Medicare for the past 10 years, I know that my health care needs are of no consequence to this governmental agency. Let's hear how bernie is going to fix this behemoth before he plans to offer it to everyone. Oh, that's right, bernie just spouts off without thinking things through.

Since being forced into Medicare, I've come to feel totally abandoned. When I attempted to report Medicare fraud perpetrated by my previous PCP, these bureaucrats made it very clear to me that they weren't interested and everyone did it. So much for high ideals, we're living in the wrong universe. bernie is not progressive, he's just a blowhard who doesn't have a solid, workable plan for any of his campaign rhetorical postures.

[TreasonousBastard]

17. My healthcare has been split between Medicare, the VA, and my wallet...

There is a huge wall between Medicare and the VA. I just spent a week in the hospital under Medicare, and it was actually pleasant and successful although the bills haven't come in.

VA doctors cannot issue scrips valid outside the VA pharmacy and outside doctors can't issue scrips valid at the VA pharmacy. I get my pharms for a very low copay from the VA and this cause some small confusion with scrips from the hospital doctor. Since they were generic stuff, I ended up just paying the 50 bucks to save hassles.

That's just one example. Anyone who has dealt with healthcare has plenty of stories dealing with the various nonsensical barriers and inconsistencies that waste many small fortunes daily.

I cannot, in my wildest acid dreams, imagine how this "system" could be reorganized to something sensible in the MFA time frames put out so far. If at all.

[msongs]

9. what people hear: I'm gonna take away your health care. Medicare for those who want solves

that perceptual problem

[pampango]

13. Back in the day, we were told that Medicare itself was too 'radical'/'socialist medicine'.

Programs for average people usually are called such things.

[TreasonousBastard]

14. That's all he's got? Did he hear Biden? Look, MFA may or may not be our...

healthcare salvation, but it just ain't gonna happen.

Medicare is simply a billing solution, not a healthcare provider. And there has been no groundswell of support for upsetting close to a fifth of the GDP for something new and untested.

Yes, we need more affordable health care with better access, but MFA is a joke.

[treestar]

15. Still doesn't explain how Congress will vote for it

Has he written a damn bill?

[brooklynite]

16. I think COVID-19 has killed any forward momentum for Medicare for All...

There are two components to the argument:

1. Do Americans need health care that isn't provided under the current private/public system?

2. Do Americans trust the Government to be able to implement such a system?

The Trump Administration's response to COVID-19, especially implementing the testing protocol, has in my opinion, reinforced voter distrust of the Government to manage substantial policy programs. Arguing that Biden (or Sanders) would obviously do it better is rationally true but emotionally insufficient.

[betsuni]

18. Only Republicans think universal heath care is radical.

Duh.

[Gothmog]

20. Switzerland rejects single-payer in landslide, keeps its version of Obamacare

Link to tweet

Swiss voters resoundingly rejected a proposal to move the country to a single-payer system on Sunday. Instead, the country will keep its private health insurance system, which looks a whole lot like Obamacare.

Two-thirds of Swiss voters opposed creating a state-run health plan in the national referendum. The issue was put to a vote after Swiss campaigners gathered more than 100,000 signatures, the threshold for getting a national vote; some initial polls in 2013 had shown strong support for a state-run system.

For a country with a relatively small population (8 million), Switzerland comes up a shocking amount in debates over American health care. That's probably because the Swiss health care system looks pretty similar to the one Obamacare sets up.

Since 1996, Switzerland has required all residents purchase coverage through an individual mandate. "If you move to Switzerland, you have three months to buy coverage and it's retroactive to your arrival," Aaron Carroll explains in his excellent video primer on the Swiss health care system.

Swiss residents buy coverage from private health insurance plans, who compete for their business. The average monthly premium for adults, in American dollars, was $329 in 2013. There are no pre-existing conditions in Switzerland; insurers are only allowed to vary premiums based on age, charging different rates for children under 18, young adults between 19 and 25, and adults over 25.