The Democratic Debate on Medicare For All

Recently, the Washington Post reported that Bernie Sanders has revised his Medicare For All plan to try to protect the legitimate interests of unionized workers who have their health insurance through collective bargaining agreements with their employers.  See https://wapo.st/2P7eMYs

While it is good that Bernie recognized an unintended consequence of his plan, his proposed protection does not guarantee success. The right to renegotiate a contract to move money currently going to private insurance premiums does not assure that employers will agree. Moreover, millions of workers and retirees have such employer-based plans which are not part of collective bargaining agreements. Indeed, federal government workers and private sector workers who are deemed supervisory or managerial cannot compel their employers to collectively bargain over any forms of compensation.

A virtue of this long nomination campaign is that it can force examination of big policy proposals, and expose unintended consequences. How candidate proponents of such policies respond will tell us a lot about their electability, and, just as importantly, whether they would be successful presidents.

In Medicare For All, Bernie’s response is nowhere near enough to address the legitimate concerns presented by his proposal. Nor, so far, have Elizabeth Warren’s or Kamila Harris’s.  Pete Buttigieg’s Medicare For All Who Want It plan does resolve those concerns.

Voters who like Joe Biden’s “build on Obamacare” approach, but are concerned that Joe is not sharp enough to conduct campaign we need or to be an effective president should take a closer look at Pete.