Public “Medicare for All” Saves U.S. Taxpayers 1.5 Trillion Dollars

Contrary to Michael Bloomberg and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, potential 2020 Presidential candidates, a completely public health care program could save taxpayers 1.5 trillion dollars, says Prof. Robert Pollin of PERI at UMass, Amherst and Adam Gaffney, President of Physicians for a National Health Program

Visit for more stories and help support our work by donating at .

Public "Medicare for All" Saves U.S. Taxpayers 1.5 Trillion Dollars

50 thoughts on “Public “Medicare for All” Saves U.S. Taxpayers 1.5 Trillion Dollars

    • The figure of $1.5T is consistent with how much we’d save if we simply had the system France has and paid what they do: about $1.62T each year. –In short, $1.5T to $1.62T per year is the amount in corporate welfare swine like Bloomberg want us to keep shoveling to the rich because… the 32 of 33 major democracies in the West who provide universal health care to their citizens are… far smarter than we are? Somehow? –We shouldn’t forget that Bloomberg is a sociopath, someone happy to consign tens of thousands to death every year for money, for the sake of profit. There’s no stronger definition of the sociopathic.

    • They mentioned three people who have or are introducing bills, and the differences of those bills. Tulsi I don’t think has introduced a bill, although she has signed onto one as a co-sponsor, probably just a lesser known one, but probably worth a mention for its differences. My advice on any of these issues is not to be shy and rely on what people may report, but to use your government’s statute database and have a read of at least core aspects of it yourself… then you at least know who can and can’t be trusted when other people tell you what they want you to believe the laws will say (such as is the case with the anti-green new deal people)

      https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/676

      It “includes all medically necessary care, such as primary care and prevention, dietary and nutritional therapies, prescription drugs, emergency care, long-term care, mental health services, dental services, and vision care.

      Only public or nonprofit institutions may participate. […]

      Health insurers may not sell health insurance that duplicates the benefits provided under this bill. […]”

    • annoloki, ah, thanks for pointing that out. I completely missed the legislation aspect.

      Now, it makes sense as to why she wasn’t mentioned.

    • Bloomberg’s not “wrong,” he’s intentionally lying. Universal health care sets too powerful a precedent of empowering people and saving them money, and so from his point of view it must be squashed, absolutely.

  1. $ 1.5 trillion for an unaccountable DOD. Where’s the $ trillions they ” lost ” ? The US DOD budget is bigger than the next eight countries combined. World hunger can be solved for about $ 30 bilion per year. Surely universal health care would be no problem if the Complex wasn’t so envolved in D.C.. It seems America’s values are quite hawkish.

    • ​+KL Scott At the time – in fact, it’s one of (if not, the-) oldest in the world, created in 1694, as a shared/private corporation (called “public”, but not to be confused with “state owned”, it’s public in the sense that it’s traded, so members of the public can buy shares) but it was nationalised in 1946 (notice all the same numbers!). Since 1998 it has become “independent”, although it is still state owned, and governed by the state, it has an independent executive that decides interest rate policy etc outside of party politics etc. If I withdraw a £10 note from a cash machine here, the bank had to buy that £10 note from the government… a tiny amount goes to the actual printing cost of the £10 note, and the rest goes into the public purse.

      Here on the internet, a common belief is that the US central bank is privately owned… this is pretty easy to disprove, and that’s by looking at which president appointed each of its previous chairs… the current chair of the board is Jerome Powell, appointed by Trump (and obviously, confirmed by the senate)… before that, Obama’s appointments were Janet Yellen, and Ben Bernanke was appointed both by Obama for a second term, and his first term under Bush etc etc… private institutions don’t have their board and chair chosen by the president and the senate! However, the Regional Fed’s (like the New York Fed) does have a private ownership model, so its members (which can be private or state owned banks, tho there aren’t many state owned banks) act as shareholders, so their votes are used to select their boards of directors and chairs. However, profits go to the treasury, which means profits made by interest rates on, for example, loans to the government, nearly all end up in the public purse.

    • +annoloki The US Pres. does not appoint Fed. Resrv. Chairmans, but does appoint the Sec. of Treas.. The Chairmans are elected from within by the Board of Governors. FOMC. The 12 banks that make the Fed. Resrv. are all indepent of the Fed. govt.. You failed to mention M.A.Rothschild even once, so I will. He was the one that turned the screws on the king of Eng. to tax those Americans, sparking a revolution. He said ” let me control a nation’s currency, and I care not who writes it’s law “. He got his wish in 1791 with his charter for the 1st Bank of the U.S.. His son Nathan got the charter for his, 2nd Bank of the U.S. in 1816. Both central banks. Then after the turn of the century the Rothschild Lt.’s met in secret on Jekyl Island to construct the Fed. Resrv. that was passed into law illegitimately. Your failure to mention M.A.Rothschild even once while debating the Bank of London is telling. FYI, the oldest bank is the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena which can trace it’s roots to mount piety 1472. Since you like banking history so much I have a question. Who does Warburg Pincus manage funds for ? Not mentioning M.A.Rothschild while speaking of the Bank Of London is quite telling….peace

    • ​+KL Scott Dude, I answered your question politely, but I see now it wasn’t an honest question, but just a veiled self-invite for you to get to feel like you got to put someone in their place. Firstly, I didn’t “fail” to mention anything, you asked me who owns our central bank, and I explained that it is owned by the state because it was nationalised in 1946. I know very well the bank’s history, I even know that the Bank of England is our central bank, and the Bank of London is a completely different thing. I also know that your Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors are ALL picked by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and a quick Google (if you were actually interested in what’s true) confirms and adds that there are 7 governors who serve 14 year terms, staggered every 2 years. My facts are all correct as I’m not simply going from memory, I check what I’m saying before I post. Again: you are confusing the regional Federal banks – like the New York Fed – which have the 12 owners you refer to – with the Federal Reserve, which does NOT have private owners, and is run by people nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Here is a video of Obama announcing his nomination of Bernanke to chair the board. It would be incredibly stupid to pretend this doesn’t happen, I’ve made this real easy for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ds7KNubrhY

    • +annoloki Okay, Last reply. I didn’t say the NYFR was owned by 12 anything. I said the complete Fed. Resrv. system consists of 12 independently owned banks. There’s NOTHING Federal about their ownerships, nor do they have Reserves. It’s a scam. Here’s an example. Our govt. gives Israel $ 3.5 billion per year, Israel puts it in the NYFR where it earns intrest, and the NYFR lends it out, some of it back the the Fed. govt. that borrowed it from the Fed.Resrv. to begin with, and now have to pay additional intrests on. All with our so-called tax dollars. peace

  2. Single payer is the only way to reduce costs. It could cut our health care costs in half. The insurance industry adds micromanaging overhead, which single payer could eliminate. Doctors and nurses do too much paperwork for insurance billing that serves no purpose, and there are too many useless administrators and executives.

    • ​+Craig S Medicare for all is one version of a single payer system. It would reduce administrative costs on the insurance side, but it would not reduce paperwork and compliance costs for care providers.

      I just learned about Andrew Yang 2020. He supports a single payer system like Medicare for all but also raises good points about how to improve it.

    • @Michael Don’t kid yourself, Michael. The ultimate point of that paperwork has a very specific purpose, which is to deny YOU coverage and allow an insurer to refuse to pay for your treatment.

    • You’re a communist. We don’t want cheaper, better healthcare that covers everyone. America is a for-profit business entity, not a society of peoples.

    • +Kevin T Maybe this is what Margaret Thatcher meant when she said :”There is no such thing as society, just individuals” I’ve always thought that was a remarkably shallow and cynical thing for her to say. What amazes me about your post is that the shallowness and stupidity you skillfully mock is, in fact, the way many people actually “think.” What a lovely world we live in.

  3. Why didn’t you mention Tulsi Gabbard as a candidate? She’s my choice & has plenty of supporters. What’s her position? Otherwise, good show.

    • Certainly there’s more profit in healthcare if we stay as we are. e.g. Paying $50,000 for normal C-section childbirth, (free in other countries) and $5,400/yr for my statins (same item $0-$350 elsewhere) is what makes crony capitalism great. We simply can’t afford to save money on healthcare. It destroys the american dream.

    • Education!!! teachers, nurses, firefighters, PSW should be getting paid 50k-70k or a liveable wage based on where they live. Education is the key! but we could start with not giving 30 billion dollars to israel lol

    • The United States has 10 aircraft carriers compared to other superpower nations that have 1-2 aircraft carriers. The last aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford, cost tax payers $13 billion. If we, the USA, have better relationships with our NATO allies then we won’t need so many carriers. We can then divert $13 billion to health care or other social programs to improve the lives of Americans.

  4. how the hell would it bankrupt so you mean it bankrupt Michael Bloomberg’s investments and insurance companies oh oh I see he’s going to lose a cash cow.

    • No more billionaires, period. We need confiscatory top marginal tax rates and confiscatory estate taxes above a valuation of, say, 50 million dollars.

    • Or at all. They’re no excuse for that much personal wealth, and the only way to stop them using it to pervert politics and buy themselves candidacies is to seperate them from what is in the final anaysis the wealth generated by the whole human race.

    • +BLAIR M Schirmer you beat me to it!
      Money ceases to provide any benefit above $10 million beyond raw power to extort & coerce others. For this reason, a reasonable government should ensure that no person should ever amass such extravagant wealth.

    • +BLAIR M Schirmer The ideal system should not allow that level of wealth to be amassed, please search for Richard Wolff’s video on “Ice Cream Socialism” for his take in a valuable point for all of us socialists to consider. The actual comment is near the end of the 5th minute of the video if I recall correctly. Also this point presents an urgent need to prevent the existing billionaires from amassing further billions
      The more they amass the more unwilling they will be to give it up, and the more power they will have to resist, and the way they resist is to sabotage social progress. It is likely we are beyond the point of no return on wealthy ogliarchs overpowering the ability of governments to restrain them.

  5. This must happen. The whole system is broken and people are dying right and left because of the insane unlimited profit practices. Some company buys the patent for a medicine that was being provided for free, and charges $375,000.00 a year, and insurance pays for it! That’s nuts. Government should close the company, seize the patent, and fine the insurance companies for colluding in this obvious and insane scheme.

    • It’s not “insane,” it’s highly motivated, and entirely intentional, making it sociopathic. How does it differ from contract killing, except for the much greater scale of this? It’s killing for profit. That’s all it is.

    • I would like to know how private companies get the Patents for medical R & D payed for through Taxpayer funded Grant’s? How much money is shelled out in these grants we get no $$$ return on? Why aren’t the American people receiving royalties like Alaskan’s are for their Oil?

  6. Having worked extensively overseas and exposed to their and our health care system, our system is an embarrassment. Time for change!

  7. First time I’ve ever thumbs downed a Real News video. No mention of Tulsi Gabbard, the only candidate currently in the race who supports Medicare for All.

    • Now there are two..Bernie just announced. I am donating to both right now so we can have them both on the debate stage at least for the first go round. (DNC is mandating a minimum number of individual donations to get on the stage in lieu of the 1% in 3 national polls mandate that could potentially keep Tulsi off the stage.) The American people need to see that they are not alone, and there is more than just “one rogue candidate” who is truly looking out for them. A Bernie/Tulsi ticket would be a dream come true.

    • a great discussion and they fail to mention one person. Not a reason to dis the informative video. More people need to watch it and learn.
      I donated money to the Tulsi Gabbard campaign. My first choice is Bernie Sanders who wrote a Medicare for All bill a long time ago.

  8. AOC is working on the Green New Deal
    Bernie Sanders is working on universal healthcare
    Ro Khanna is working on pulling the military out of yemen

    The troyka of tyranny

  9. Only Tulsi and Warren are the only declared presidential candidates in the 2020 race so far that are progressive the rest Harris,Booker, etc. are faux progressives. I’m anxiously waiting for Bernie to announce and he’s the ultimate progressive.

  10. Dr. Gaffney is quite kind to Bloomberg and Shultz in saying they just don’t know the facts. I think they do know MFA is cheaper but want to frighten people on behalf of their wealthy friends.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *