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The Case for M4A and OT 3/31

The Progressive Wing Posted on March 31, 2019 by polarbear4March 31, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-case-for-medicare-for-all-11553815403?redirect=amp#click=https://t.co/ajRASIzhf2

A supporter of single-payer health care in San Francisco, May 29.
photo: Getty Images

“A single-payer health-insurance system can finance good-quality coverage for all U.S. residents while still reducing overall health-care spending by roughly 10%, according to a study I co-authored last November. All Americans would be able to get care from their chosen providers without having to pay premiums, deductibles or copayments.

Other countries currently provide good health care to residents at a fraction of the U.S. cost. As of 2017, the U.S. spent $3.3 trillion on health care—17% of gross domestic product. Germany, France, Japan, Canada, the U.K., Australia, Spain and Italy spent between 9% and 11% of GDP on health care. Yet some measures—like those based on the amenable mortality rate, which tracks medically preventable deaths—rank the U.S. well below those countries.

The U.S. ranks so poorly in large part because so many Americans lack access to health care. Roughly 30 million people, 9% of the U.S. population, are uninsured. Another 26%, 86 million people, are underinsured—they have insurance but are unable to access medical care because their deductibles or copays are prohibitively high. If all these people were covered under a single-payer system, our study estimates that the overall cost of treatments would rise by about 12%, from $3.3 trillion to $3.6 trillion. Our 12% figure draws from our literature review and the 2016 estimates of Kenneth Thorpe of Emory University. It is modestly higher than the 11.3% estimate the Mercatus Center reported last July.

But Medicare for All could also eliminate 19% of total health-care spending. The largest saving, about 9% of total system costs, would come from dramatically reduced administrative costs in contracting, claims processing, credentialing providers and payment validation—all of which would be unified under one federal agency. Private insurers spend about 12% of their collective budget on administration, while Medicare operates much more efficiently, with administrative costs at around 2%.

Dramatic administrative cuts would mean far less paperwork for doctors and nurses. But administrative simplification would also entail large-scale job loses for the roughly two million people employed both by private health insurers and on the management side of hospitals and doctors’ offices. Our study proposes generous transitional support for these displaced workers, including income, retraining and relocation funds and pension guarantees. We estimate the full cost of this support would amount to about $120 billion, equal to a roughly 2% increase a year in total system costs if spread over a two-year transition phase.

The second major saving our study identified would come from the government negotiating down prescription-drug prices, which would eliminate about 6% of total system costs. Prescription-drug prices in the U.S. are about twice as high as in other advanced economies. Under Medicare for All these prices could fall, conservatively, by about 40%. Further savings would result through operating Medicare for All under a global budgeting system like the one in Canada. Such systems allow regulators to oversee billing and expenses industrywide, allowing them to control fees for physicians and hospitals, reduce unnecessary treatments and fraud, and encourage preventive care.

Taking the cost reductions and expanded coverage into account, we estimated that Medicare for All could operate with an overall budget of $2.93 trillion—nearly 10% less than current spending. To finance this, the government begins with $1.9 trillion already in hand—nearly 60% of the total needed—that pays for Medicare, Medicaid and smaller public programs. The government would therefore need to take about $1 trillion out of what businesses and families now pay to private insurers.

Our study has a few ideas to generate those funds. We propose that all businesses that currently purchase health insurance for their employees be mandated to pay 92% of what they now spend into Medicare for All—saving 8% of their health-care expenditures. Larger firms that haven’t provided coverage for every worker would pay $500 for each uninsured worker, while small businesses would be exempt from these premiums. This measure would raise more than $600 billion. After two or three years, this system could make a transition to a 1.78% tax on gross receipts or an 8.2% payroll tax, either of which would generate the needed $600 billion.

The remaining $400 billion would come from two measures: a national sales tax of 3.75% on nonnecessities, which would generate about $200 billion, and a wealth tax of 0.38%, after exempting the first $1 million of all families’ net worth, for another $200 billion. We also propose taxing long-term capital gains as ordinary income. The sum of these revenue streams will allow Medicare for All to operate with a 1% budget surplus.

Families would pay these taxes instead of premiums, deductibles and copays to private insurers. Except for those in the highest income brackets, this will produce significant savings for families as well as for businesses. Net health-care spending for middle-income families that now purchase insurance for themselves would fall by fully 14% of their income.

Add it all up and Medicare for All is actually the cheaper option for good-quality care in the U.S.”

Mr. Pollin is an economics professor and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at The University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Now how do we get this kind of argument out to every single person? Can we badger the MSM relentlessly?

Continue reading →

Posted in Community Content, Healthcare, Uncategorized

Andrew Gillum plans massive voter registration effort as FL Republicans try to undo Amendment 4

The Progressive Wing Posted on March 21, 2019 by Subir GrewalMarch 21, 2019

Gillum is going to use his organization to help turn Florida blue in 2020. The new organization is called: Bring It Home Florida. After losing his bid for Florida’s governorship by less than one half of a percentage point, Mr. Gillum, the former Tallahassee mayor, is now carefully planning his next steps amid speculation that he would run for president. On Wednesday, he announced he will not join the Democratic field seeking to oppose President Trump, but instead return to political organizing. He said he aims to build a voter mobilization network in Florida that will help whoever becomes the Democratic … Continue reading →

Posted in 2020 Elections, Activism, Community Content, Democrats, grassroots, Uncategorized | Tagged Andrew Gillum, Enfranchising voters, Florida, voter registration

Bernie News Roundup – Sanders Sits Down With Seth Meyers, Bernie’s Radicalism Is Tomorrow’s Common Sense & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on March 1, 2019 by LieparDestinMarch 1, 2019

Bernie Sanders to Seth Meyers: Yes, It’s ‘Awkward’ to Run Against Senate Colleagues

In a big new interview with The New York Times on the occasion of his show’s fifth anniversary, Seth Meyers admitted that he doesn’t love interviewing politicians. In his experience, “they’re just gonna answer the question they wish you’d asked and they’re going to say it the way they practiced it, and oftentimes it’s something they’ve said a bunch. So there’s the lack of the crackle you want during an interview.”

But not every politician is Bernie Sanders.

The Vermont senator made his seventh appearance on Late Night in less than four years on Thursday. He began by systematically laying out his platform for 2020 but loosened up a bit when Meyers asked him how he feels about his policies moving into the mainstream.

“A lot of those issues obviously distinguished you from the competition last time,” Meyers said. “One of the successes is you now have convinced a lot of the people that are running against you. Do you ever want to say—because a lot of them are friends or colleagues—do you ever want to say, ‘Hey, Medicare for All, that’s kind of my thing?’”

Laughing, Sanders replied, “No one person can do it alone. So, we need a lot of voices out there.”

With so many of his Senate colleagues currently running for the Democratic nomination, Meyers asked his guest, “Is it awkward that you all know that you’re all trying to be president?”

…

The short answer is yes,” Sanders said eventually. “We all have lunch together every Tuesday, and you’ve got half the caucus running for president, you know? So it is kind of strange.”

“But on the other hand, you know, we have known each other—I’ve known Elizabeth Warren for like 20 years, I’ve known many of the other senators for a long time, and we’re friends,” Sanders added. “Obviously each and every one of us wants to win the nomination. I certainly do. But I think we all understand that no matter who wins, everybody is going to rally around that candidate and defeat Donald Trump. That is most important.”

Join me in the comments for more Bernie news/tweets/videos/etc.

Posted in BNR | Tagged Bernie Sanders, BNR

Bernie News Roundup – #Bernie2020 Announcement Reactions, Sanders Staffs Up & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on February 20, 2019 by LieparDestinFebruary 20, 2019

Hello Birdies! Join me in the first official Bernie News Roundup 2.0 to discuss all the latest Bernie Sanders news, media, commentary & more.

Continue reading →
Posted in 2020 Elections, Bernie News Roundup, Bernie Sanders, BNR | Tagged Bernie News Roundup, Bernie Sanders, Bernie2020

What is The Revolution?

The Progressive Wing Posted on July 23, 2018 by TheLeftistheCenterJuly 25, 2018

I think if you ask a lot of people this question you will get a lot of different answers, so what is it? I think I can best define it as the interweaving of these two main components: Actual people unbeholden to moneyed interests running for office using Bernies technique of policy first, positive, PAC free and people oriented campaigning, offering real solutions the people can actually get excited to vote for, to stimulate political activity. Large percentages of the population becoming politically interested with some becoming actually politically active, specifically due to these real solutions being offered and help … Continue reading →

Posted in Activism, Bernie Sanders, Community Content, The Movement | Tagged Bernie Sanders, midterms, revolution

Water Protector & Pipeline News – Religious Leaders Oppose Enbridge Pipeline & Anti-Terrorism Agencies Monitoring Mountain Valley Protesters & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on June 5, 2018 by LieparDestinJune 5, 2018

Mountain Valley Pipeline protesters lock themselves to drilling equipment Opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline tried a new tactic Monday: chaining themselves to construction equipment. West Virginia state police arrested three people who were trying to slow down workers in Lindside, a community in Monroe County, West Virginia. They delayed construction for a few hours on Route 219. Police cut them out around 10 a.m., about two hours after they received a call. Police said Maxwell Shaw, 24, Evin Ugur, 21, and Sydney White, 18, are all from Massachusetts and are out on bond. Court documents showed they’re each facing … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Content, News, Oil/Gas Pipelines, Open Thread, Uncategorized, Video, WPPN | Tagged News, pipelines, Water Protectors, wppn

Water Protector & Pipeline News – Federal Court Halts Atlantic Coast Pipeline Work, Raw Crude Oil Spews in Oklahoma City & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on May 16, 2018 by LieparDestinMay 16, 2018

Federal appeals court orders halt to work on Atlantic Coast Pipeline A federal appeals court has ordered a halt to construction of Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline, finding that restrictions against harming wildlife are inadequate for the controversial 600-mile natural gas project. Three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said in a ruling issued late Tuesday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to set clear limits for impact on threatened or endangered species. The judges said that “the limits set by the agency are so indeterminate that they undermine . . . the enforcement … Continue reading →

Posted in Activism, Community Content, Indigenous, News, Oil/Gas Pipelines, Video, Water Protectors, WPPN | Tagged Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Bayou Bridge Pipeline, DAPL, Fossil Fuels, Mountain Valley Pipeline, oil, pipelines, Renewable Energy, Standing Rock, Water Protectors

Water Protector & Pipeline News – Red Terry Comes Down From Her Tree, Louisiana Court Declares Bayou Bridge Pipeline Permit Illegal & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on May 10, 2018 by LieparDestinMay 16, 2018

Louisiana State Court Declares Bayou Bridge Pipeline Permit Illegal A Louisiana judge recently ruled that the state regulators violated guidelines when it issued Energy Transfer Partners’ controversial Bayou Bridge pipeline a coastal use permit. The permit was issued for the last 18-mile stretch of the fracked oil pipeline that would have run through the riverside town of St. James Parish, where dozens of refineries and industrial facilities are already fueling a public health crisis in the mostly African-American community. The proposed 162-mile Bayou Bridge pipeline would connect the contentious Dakota Access Pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico. As noted by … Continue reading →

Posted in Activism, Climate Change, Oil/Gas Pipelines, Uncategorized, Video, Water Protectors, WPPN | Tagged #StandWithRed, activism, Bayou Bridge Pipeline, DAPL, Keystone XL, News, Pipeline, Standing Rock, Trans Mountain Pipeline, Water Protectors

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