Nationwide, Multi-Million Dollar Ad Campaign to Show Americans the Consequences of So-Called ‘Medicare for All’ Proposals
One Nation, a public policy organization dedicated to promoting commonsense legislative solutions, today announced a nationwide, multi-million dollar advertising campaign to prevent the collapse of America’s health care system. The first commercial, entitled ‘Signs,’ features patient horror-stories from Canada’s single-payer system and will begin airing this week on television, radio and digital platforms..
“We’re going to make sure every American understands that Medicare for All means paying more for lower-quality care, longer wait times and restricted choice,” said One Nation President and CEO Steven Law. “If you’re a union worker, a family dependent on employer insurance, or a senior relying on traditional Medicare, so-called Medicare for All will turn your world upside down.”
The ad can be viewed here, or by clicking below:
Medicare for All is a single-payer, government-controlled health care scheme that would force every American into a one-size-fits-all plan, kicking 180 million Americans off their current private insurance plans and resulting in longer waits for lower-quality care.
By outlawing private health insurance, Medicare for All would kick 180 million Americans off their current plans and put them into a government-run, one-size-fits-all plan
The New York Times Headline: “Medicare for All Would Abolish Private Insurance. ‘There’s No Precedent in American History.’” “At the heart of the ‘Medicare for all’ proposals championed by Senator Bernie Sanders and many Democrats is a revolutionary idea: Abolish private health insurance. Proponents want to sweep away our complex, confusing, profit-driven mess of a health care system and start fresh with a single government-run insurer that would cover everyone.” (Reed Abelson and Margot Sanger-Katz, “Medicare for All Would Abolish Private Insurance. ‘There’s No Precedent in American History.’” The New York Times, 3/23/19)
Chip Kahn, FAH President: “Medicare for All’s promises can’t be kept. Medicare for All means that Americans would lose the coverage they trust. Medicare for All repeals the ACA, it repeals the employer-based coverage 180 million people depend upon, it repeals Medicare, it repeals Medicaid and throws millions of kids off the insurance they have today. It will force patients into an untested system that will disrupt care for every American.”(Federation of American Hospitals, “ICYMI: Sanders’ Medicare for All Means Higher Taxes, No Private Plans,” Press Release, 4/11/19)
Sen. Michael Bennet: Medicare-for-All “takes insurance away from 180 million people who get it from their employer… takes it away from every single union that has collectively bargained for their health-care plan… takes it away from 20 million people that have Medicare Advantage…” “Asked about the Medicare-for-all bill that several of his Senate colleagues running for president have co-sponsored, Bennet made the case against the bill both on the substance and the politics. ‘That legislation takes insurance away from 180 million people who get it from their employer, 80 percent of whom like it,’ he said. ‘It takes it away from every single union that has collectively bargained for their health-care plan. It takes it away from 20 million people that have Medicare Advantage who love Medicare Advantage. … We’re making it too easy for the people who don’t want to cover everybody,’ he continued.” (James Hohmann, “The Daily 202: Decrying court packing, Michael Bennet pleads with Democrats to care more about electability,” The Washington Post, 3/18/19)
Medicare for All would force Americans into a one-size-fits-all health care plan by outlawing private health care insurance. “‘Medicare for All’ – better described as ‘Medicare for None’ – would make private and employer-sponsored coverage illegal, forcing Americans into a one-size-fits-all health care plan.” (“Medicare For None: No Options, No Choice,” U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee, 3/12/19)
“Sect. 107 of Bernie Sanders’ ‘Medicare for all’ states that: ‘It shall be unlawful for a private health insurer to sell health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this Act.’ Since ‘Medicare for all’ would cover everything except cosmetic surgery — medical, dental, vision, mental health — this amounts to an outright ban on private health insurance. What’s more, the law dictates that once phased in, enrollment in the government plan is automatic.” (Editorial, “The Public Loves ‘Medicare For All’ … Until They Learn What’s In It,” Investor’s Business Daily, 1/23/19)
Sanders’ Medicare for All is “a single government-run plan [that] provides insurance coverage to all Americans.” “Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reintroduced his plan Wednesday morning to transition the United States to a single-payer health care system, one where a single government-run plan provides insurance coverage to all Americans. The Sanders plan envisions a future in which all Americans have health coverage and pay nothing out of pocket when they visit the doctor. His plan, the Medicare for All Act, describes a benefit package that is more generous than what other single-payer countries, like Canada, currently offer their residents and includes new income taxes on both employees and employers.” (Sarah Kliff, “Bernie Sanders’s Medicare-for-all plan, explained,” Vox, 4/10/19)
According to the CBO, Medicare for All is single-payer, government-run health care. “Although single-payer systems can have a variety of different features and have been defined in many ways, health care systems are typically considered single-payer systems if they have these four key features: The government entity (or government-contracted entity) operating the public health plan is responsible for most operational functions of the plan, such as defining the eligible population, specifying the covered services, collecting the resources needed for the plan, and paying providers for covered services; The eligible population is required to contribute toward financing the system; The receipts and expenditures associated with the plan appear in the government’s budget; and Private insurance, if allowed, generally plays a relatively small role and supplements the coverage provided under the public plan.” (“Key Design Components and Considerations for Establishing a Single-Payer Health Care System,” Congressional Budget Office, 5/1/19)
Under Canada’s single-payer health system, patients wait weeks, even months to receive care
Canada has a single-payer health care system. “Recent polls suggest a growing number of Americans do support a single-payer system, which is the dominant model in other developed countries, including neighboring Canada.” (Michel Martin, “A Canadian Doctor Explains How Her Country’s Single-Payer Health Care System Works,” NPR, 9/24/17)
According to a Fraser Institute study, “[t]he median time for specialty treatment after a patient was referred by a primary care doctor in 2018 was 20 weeks. … On average, patients waited nine weeks to see a specialist, then waited an additional 11 weeks to receive treatment.”(Roger Stark, Op-Ed, “Single payer means long waits for care,” Washington Examiner, 2/11/19)
Patients wait 9.9 weeks for elective cardiovascular surgery in Canada.(Bacchus Barua and David Jacques, “Waiting Your Turn,” Fraser Institute, 2018)
Patients wait 10.6 weeks for an MRI in Canada. (Bacchus Barua and David Jacques, “Waiting Your Turn,” Fraser Institute, 2018)
The average wait time for asthma testing in Canada is 4.15 weeks. (Dr. Mark Fitzgerald, Dr. Paul Hernandez, Dr. Paul O’Byrne, and Dr. Erika Penz, “Moving The Dial On The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Asthma,” The Lung Association, January 2019, p. 8)
Patients wait 19.8 weeks for cataract surgery in Canada. (Bacchus Barua and David Jacques, “Waiting Your Turn,” Fraser Institute, 2018)
Patients wait 26.3 weeks for neurosurgery in Canada.(Bacchus Barua and David Jacques, “Waiting Your Turn,” Fraser Institute, 2018)
Patients wait 4 weeks for radiation oncology treatment and 3.8 weeks for medical oncology treatment in Canada.(Bacchus Barua and David Jacques, “Waiting Your Turn,” Fraser Institute, 2018)
Patients wait 28.1 weeks for hip or knee replacements in Canada.(Bacchus Barua and David Jacques, “Waiting Your Turn,” Fraser Institute, 2018)
Patients wait 3.9 weeks for an ultrasound in Canada.(Bacchus Barua and David Jacques, “Waiting Your Turn,” Fraser Institute, 2018)
Wait times for health care in Canada have increased by 113 percent since 1993. (Bacchus Barua and David Jacques, “Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2018 Report,” Fraser Institute, 12/4/18)