Will Medicare-for-All Be An Electoral Winner?

This morning, Business Insider reported that "Nearly half of all US health spending is tied to admin management and the cost burdens associated with private insurance are being passed along to US consumers, making treatment an unmanageable expense. Patients are coughing up large portions of their budget on health, with the average non-elderly US family spending $8,200 per year on healthcare — or 11% of their income." That's $817 billion a year completely and utterly wasted-- $2,479 per patient.

And when we consider that 67% of all US bankruptcies are due to exorbitant healthcare costs, according to a 2019 study from the American Journal of Public Health, it's critical to recognize that the admin burden from private insurers-- contributing to a rise in overall healthcare spending by US patients-- is at least partially to blame for why health costs have become so unmanageable for so many people.

And anxieties around the possibility of medically induced poverty are driving poor health habits among US consumers. In a recent Gallup poll, 25% of US consumers said they or a family member had delayed treatment for a serious illness because of the high cost of care.

Such risky behavior could easily result in a negative feedback loop, whereby patients with otherwise treatable conditions develop worse, more complicated ailments simply due to a lack of financial resources.

Virtually all of the candidates congressional candidates on this page agree that adopting a single-payer Medicare For All system would solve the country's unsustainable admin cost crisis. That, basically, is Bernie's program and a big reason why he has been doing so well in the run-up to the primaries. But before we talk about the real winner in Iowa-- hopefully for the last time-- I want to run the final votes by, pending, of course, any corrections after whatever kind of a re-canvas they do, if they do. The first number shows how many votes each candidate got on the first ballot and the second number shows what each candidate got on the final ballot.

• Bernie- 43,671 ---> 45,826
• Mayo Pete- 37,557 ---> 43,195
• Elizabeth- 32,533 ---> 34,771
• Status Quo Joe- 26,384 ---> 23,691
• Klobuchar- 22,469 ---> 21,181
• Yang- 8,821---> 1,780
• Steyer- 3,083 ---> 413
• Bloomberg- 217 ---> 20
• Tulsi- 334 ---> 17
• Bennet- 164 ---> 4
• Deval Patrick- 50 ---> 0

The DNC and their establishment allies can spin it any way they want, but 45,826 votes is more than 43,195 votes, and this, according to Matt Taibbi "after four years of being shat upon by party officials and media allies alike (CNN and MSNBC are seen in Sanders crowds as Goebbelsian arms of the Democratic National Committee), Vermont’s anti-corporate crusader has defied odds and soared... After a vote in Iowa that reeked of third-world treachery-- from monolithic TV propaganda against the challenger to rumors of foreign intrusion to, finally, a 'botched' vote count that felt as legitimate as a Supreme Soviet election-- the Democrats have become the reactionaries they once replaced... DNC chair Tom Perez-- a triple-talking neurotic who is fast becoming the poster child for everything progressives hate about modern Dems-- called for an 'immediate recanvass.' He changed his mind after ten hours and said he only wanted 'surgical' reanalysis of problematic districts." On Saturday, Taibbi also summarized the 10 things that went wrong in Iowa from Deval Patrick Sweeps Des Moines! to Impossible Math.

So... the winner is... Medicare-for-All.





Iowa voters were bombarded by ads from candidates-- but also by the Sickness-Industrial Complex relentlessly pushing an anti-Medicare-for-All message. The transpartisan anti-healthcare coalition spent significantly over a million dollars on TV ads alone and over the summer, their shady PAC was on the air as much as all the candidates combined.

The pro- and anti-healthcare debate is playing out not just in Iowa and not just in the presidential race, but all over the country and in the congressional races as well. Medicare-for-All proponents, like Mike Siegel in Texas, are asking the voters to compare and contrast what the various candidates are offering. Mike is up against two anti-Medicare-for-All candidates in theTX-10 primary next week. He's asking voters to look at this:

I asked some of the other congressional candidates how Medicare-for-All is looking as an issue in their campaigns. Eva Putzova is running for Congress in a huge Arizona district that is currently represented by a very conservative "ex"-Republican, Tom O'Halleran, who now calls himself a Blue Dog. He opposes public healthcare in general and Medicare-for-All in particular. "Medicare for All," Eva told us, "is popular in my district and here is why: I was told by a mother that she can't afford insulin for her child because their insurance plan doesn't cover it. One person I know took an uber to the hospital instead of an ambulance, to avoid paying an exorbitant bill. Another told me that he can't afford to go to the doctor because he is in between jobs and has no insurance at all. This is the disgraceful private healthcare system we currently have in place which my opponent, the incumbent, seems to think is just fine and can be improved with a few tweaks. We need to completely overhaul this heartless system, eliminate the private insurance industry, strictly regulate the pharmaceutical industry and enact Medicare for All. This is what I will fight for when I am elected to Congress."

Cenk Uygur is running for Congress in the very northern tip of Los Angeles County (CA-25) and his top four jungle primary rivals are bought and paid for anti-healthcare reactionaries, Steve Knight (R), Christy Smith (D), Mike Garcia (R) and George Papadopolous (R). "Once I explain that Medicare for All is the only proposal that is universal healthcare 100% of Democratic voters are on my side," he told me this morning. "Once I explain that all other proposals, like the public option, maintain a system where you still have co-pays, premiums and deductibles 100% of Democratic voters are on my side. All of the media propaganda did was create a need to add a one sentence explanation. Now in politics that could be a significant handicap but even so, our ideas are wildly popular even with people lying about them and universally accepted when they know the truth."

Liam O'Mara is the progressive Democrat, campaigning strongly on single payer Medicare-for-All, taking on Trumpist Republican Ken Calvert in Riverside County. He told us that "Last week Ken Calvert sent a mailer to the entire district, Democratic as well as Republican households. In it he listed three policies-- impeachment, Medicare for all, and the Green New Deal. There was a green column under my name and 'supports' in each box, and a red column under his name with 'opposes' in each box. Quite a few people hopped onto my social media after that and said they were happy Calvert had introduced them to me, and many of those who knew me already thought it was my mailer. Republicans continue to run on having no ideas and simply opposing improvements in our quality of life. And in the end, how long will voters tolerate the negative-nancy routine? I, for one, look forward to the opportunity he has given me to make my pitch to his voters-- namely, that Medicare will lower their effective taxation, and let them keep much more of their own money."

Nabilah Islam is running for the open congressional seat in the suburbs north of Atlanta (GA-07) and is likely to face off against an anti-healthcare conservative extolling Austerity. She has a clear vision of what the problem is and told me that "40 million Americans don't have healthcare, an estimated 87 million Americans are underinsured and 135,000 people in my district alone don't have healthcare. Mothers are sitting in the parking lots of Emergency rooms hoping their children's fevers don't spike while others are rationing their insulin supplies and other life-saving drugs. Why? Because for-profit healthcare systems don't work. There isn't a single instance around the world of it working. That's why almost three-quarters of Georgia Democrats support Medicare for All. I believe healthcare is a fundamental human right and while I sit in a field of Democrats who disagree, It matters not to me because I will always fight for regular people. For everyday Americans, for the 67% percent of people who are forced into bankruptcy because of medical bills."

Briana Wu, on the other side of the country, in Boston, is as dedicated to Medicare-for-All as Liam is. "For some time now," she said, "Democrats across the country have been calling for Medicare For All. Studies have been released showing the growing cost of health care for all age groups and demographics. On the campaign trail, health care is consistently one of the top issues I hear about from voters. It’s clear to me that Medicare For All is the solution we need to provide universal coverage and keep costs down for working class Americans. Try telling that to my opponent, Stephen Lynch. He constantly dodges the issue of healthcare because his donors tell him to through their campaign contributions. We need to take back the Senate, win the presidency, and increase our progressive caucus in the House. When we do, we will have the political will to finally get Medicare For All passed and enacted into law."

Marie Newman's race for the Chicagoland seat held by Blue Dog Dan Lipinski is a classic struggle between someone invested in a more equitable economic system and the Blue Dog approach to pay-for-play, where only the donor class gets their interests represented. This morning, Newman told me that her "opponent is so afraid of expanding a tried and true program, like Medicare For All, he calls it 'socialism' and will require our taxes to 'double or triple.' He has not even read the bill. To which I say, debating policy on its content is fine, making up lies about it just tells me, you know it will work and it will affect your ability to get insurance and pharma companies to fund you."

Robin Wilt is running for Congress in a district that is represented by a mediocre, garden variety Democrat who sits up in the back benches and does whatever her's told by the leadership. Robin is anything but that. "Prior to enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)," she told me, "at a health care Town Hall that I helped organize in Rochester, NY in 2008, more than 500 people packed into a crowded auditorium to listen to two sitting members of Congress, a historian and a physician discuss the potential for implementing Medicare for All. As I connect with voters in our community today, access to health care and Medicare for All remain among the issues that most often arise. Despite the Affordable Care Act, nearly one million New Yorkers remains uninsured, and people with ever-more-ubiquitous high-deductible plans are struggling to access care, despite having health insurance. It’s no wonder that support for Medicare for All drove people to the polls in Iowa and continues to fuel an army of voters seeking change. 75% of Democratic voters support Medicare for All, and the New York Assembly has passed a statewide single payer plan four years in a row. Despite the widespread support, my opponent has steadfastly refused to support single payer at either the state or federal level. Medicare for All is at the centerpiece of my platform for people-centered policies for NY’s 25th Congressional District, and from the enthusiasm that I experience as I go door-to-door connecting with voters, it will be a winning issue as voters make their choices in our primaries. If voters in Monroe County want Medicare for All, there is only one choice among candidates, and that’s Robin Wilt."

Rachel Ventura, who is running for a seat mostly in Will County west of Chicago is far more progressive on healthcare-- and everything else, than the New Dem running against her, Bill Foster. "Passing Medicare for All won’t only give individuals healthcare," she told me, "it will also give them so many more freedoms. Freedom to choose their employer or their doctor for example. There are constituents in my district who can’t make above $2,000 a month or they will lose their access to Medicaid which is the only insurance they currently have. They can’t afford to buy insurance from the open market because it’s too expensive even if they’re in a better paying job. Unless the family is making more than $80,000 a year they just can’t afford healthcare if any member of their family is sick. Medicare for all will allow individuals to choose better employment, change employers, and more importantly select doctors that give them the best healthcare. Our healthcare system is not only keeping people sick, but it’s also keeping them broke."

As Daniel Strauss pointed out at Politico this past October, Mayo Pete pledged-- in no uncertain terms-- to support Medicare for All. The Question was "Can you affirmatively say that we need Medicare For All now and that insurance does not belong in healthcare? #SinglePayer" The response was "I, Pete Buttigieg, politician, do henceforth and forthwith declare, most affirmatively and indubitably, unto the ages, that I do favor Medicare for All, as I do favor any measure that would help get all Americans covered." Later, liking the taste of the money the 40 billionaires who are funding his campaign have sent his way, he found a way to worm out of that "unto the ages" pledge. Because he's a scumbag lying piece of shit politician. He calls his sleazy plan to kill Medicare-for-All, "Medicare for All Who Want It," the plan the anti-healthcare forces are pushing. Elizabeth Warren: "Whenever someone hears the term ‘Medicare for All Who Want It,’ understand what that really means. It's Medicare for all who can afford it."