Prior to her sudden silence after becoming the Democrat presidential nominee, Kamala Harris had been an eager, full-throated supporter of single-payer medicine like the Bernie Sanders-Pramila Jayapal Medicare for All Act of 2023. This would put the federal government in complete control of all aspects of health care: financing, staffing and credentialling, and all medical decisions.
Presumably, if Harris attained the presidency, she would “do whatever it takes,” just as Barack Obama did with the (un)-Affordable Care Act (ACA), to pass her version of Medicare for All. Preserving just one payer for health care is the best choice. That should be the patient, not the federal government.
Although the specifics of Medicare for All are variable and complex, the major elements are straightforward. D.C. promises to deliver cradle-to-grave medical care at a cost of $32.6 to $40 trillion over a 10-year period. The higher figure is according to Sanders.