Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Bernie and the high cost of ‘free’ health care

 NY Post
“If you think health care is expensive today,” humorist P.J. O’Rourke once opined, “just wait until it’s free.”

. . . "Given that Medicare is running some $40 trillion in the red, that might not be the best model, but Bernie’s undeterred. In fact, Sanders’ plan would actually cover more services than Medicare.
"And, it would do away with all of Medicare’s modest cost-sharing components like co-payments, deductibles and premiums. When Sanders promises free health care, he means it.
"But, as O’Rourke warned us, BernieCare will really cost us a whole lot more. Sanders’ own estimates suggest that BernieCare would cost roughly $13.8 trillion over its first decade of operation, roughly a 30 percent increase in federal spending.
"To pay for it, Sanders would sock us all with a big tax hike. He would increase the top income-tax rate to 52 percent and add hefty hikes in capital gains taxes and estate taxes. Corporations would face a new 6.2 percent payroll tax, which would mean either fewer jobs or lower wages. He would also hit every American with a new 2.2 percent income tax." . . .  Emphasis mine, TD

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