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The Daily Signal
‘Medicare
for All’ Would Ruin the Care Americans Already Like
Robert Moffit
February 15, 2019
Liberals in Congress are promising Americans that their “Medicare for
All” proposals for government-controlled health care will expand access
to care.
As Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., explains, “Obamacare was a first step in
advancing this country, but I won’t rest until every American has a
basic security that comes with having access to affordable health care.”
Likewise, Sen. Kamala Harris, the California Democrat, predicts, “Well,
the idea is that everyone gets access to medical care. And you don’t
have to go through the process of going through an insurance company,
having them give you approval, going through the paperwork, all of the
delay that may require.”
Universal access to health care—and no bureaucratic delays.
Though it sounds too good to be true, a plurality of Americans,
according to the National Opinion Research Center, actually think it
is. It reports that 42 percent of respondents in a national survey
believe that “Medicare for All” would increase access to doctors and
hospitals, while only 24 percent expect such a program would reduce
access.
This faith is misplaced. Britain and Canada provide their citizens with
single-payer national health insurance, and the evidence is
overwhelming: Access to government health insurance does not
automatically translate into access to medical care, let alone the
avoidance of frustrating and sometimes dangerous delays in medical
treatment.
Consider the problem of delays. In the British National Health
Service—the grand-daddy of “single payer” health care—there are more
than 4 million people awaiting hospitalization. To their credit, the
British media has not been shy about reporting the shabby conditions in
overcrowded and understaffed British hospitals, the denials or
cancellations of surgeries, and the suffering of British patients.
For those British citizens who want to avoid care delays or denials by
the National Health Service, there is the option of enrolling in
British private health insurance. Such an option is especially
desirable for British patients in need of highly specialized medical
procedures, such as a coronary bypass or orthopedic surgeries.
In the United States, congressional liberals—in the text of their
leading “Medicare for All” bills (H.R. 676 and S. 1804)—would outlaw
virtually all private health insurance, including job-based health
coverage. In short, they would deny every American the right to enroll
in any alternative to the government plan.
American health care deficiencies are indeed serious—quality is uneven
and noncompetitive markets drive up costs and undercut the
affordability of care and coverage. On measures of access to care,
however, researchers writing for the Journal of the American Medical
Association—examining the comparative performance of 11 “high-income”
nations—found that “the United States generally performed better than
other countries.”
Concerning access to specialized care, for example, they found that
only 6 percent of American patients reported waiting more than two
months to see a medical specialist, compared to 39 percent of Canadian
patients and 19 percent of British patients. The Fraser Institute, a
prominent Canadian think tank, estimated that in 2018 the median
waiting time for a Canadian patient to see a medical specialist on
referral from a general practitioner was 19.8 weeks.
Access to high-quality care is also dependent on the availability of
medical goods, as well as specialized services, including advanced
medical technology. The Journal of the American Medical Association
researchers found that the U.S. ranks first in the utilization of
computed tomography units, and second in the number of magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) machines per million of the population (38.1),
while Canada has only 8.9 MRIs per million and Britain has just
7.2
Likewise, in fighting breast cancer, the United States deploys 43.3
mammography units per million of the population, while Britain has just
21 and Canada has only 17.3.
Not surprisingly, the researchers found that screening for the
prevention of breast cancer is higher in the United States than for all
other high-income countries.
Americans can also celebrate stellar progress in reducing death from
heart disease. In a major study for the National Bureau of Economic
Research, another team of researchers report that between 1950 and
2015, mortality from cardiovascular disease declined by a stunning 73
percent.
Thank the quality American medical interventions. At a rate of 79
procedures per 100,000 in the population, according to the report,
Americans lead other high-income countries in the availability of
coronary bypass surgery. In comparison, Canadians have a rate of 58
procedures per 100,000 and the British just 26.
On the provision of coronary angioplasty, the United States operates at
a rate of 248 per 100,000 of the population, compared to Canada
with just 157 and Britain at only 128. The United States also has a
much better record of reduced mortality after incidents of stroke and
heart attacks than most other advanced countries.
Access and quality problems in government-controlled health care are
not far from home. Just ponder the scandalous delays and denials of
care at the “single payer” Veterans Administration, Obamacare’s
notoriously narrow provider networks, and the historically poor record
of patient access to doctors, quality care, and medical outcomes in the
Medicaid program.
A National Opinion Research Center survey reports that most Americans
are “somewhat” or “very” concerned about their access to doctors and
hospitals. Not surprisingly, therefore, the Kaiser Family Foundation
reports that 70 percent of Americans would oppose “Medicare for All” if
it would “lead to delays in people getting some medical tests and
treatments.”
Experience is the best teacher. The lesson: Liberal promises do not
match “single payer” performance. Looking at the record, ordinary
Americans can know the truth.
Read this and other articles at The Daily Signal
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