Single-Payer Health Plan Studies Give Fuel to the Left and Right
- As health costs rise, calls for Medicare for All increase
- Plans require new taxes and vastly expanded government role
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Single-payer health care has been championed by progressives as a path to universal coverage and decried by conservatives as a government takeover. Two new studies could give ammunition to both sides.
A report released Wednesday by RAND Corp. shows that New York state could implement a single-payer health plan giving all 19.8 million residents coverage while lowering overall health-care spending. Most workers would see their costs decline and wages rise, and employment would increase, too. But the proposal, called the New York Health Act, would require hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes, a burden falling mainly on the wealthy.