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Medicare for All Act

{{short description|Proposed U.S. healthcare reform legislation}}

{{use American English|date=March 2019}}

{{use mdy dates|date=March 2019}}

{{Infobox United States federal proposed legislation

| name = Medicare for All Act of 2021
Medicare for All Act of 2022

| fullname = To establish an improved Medicare for All national health insurance program.

| introduced in the = 117th

| public law url =

| introducedin = House of Representatives

| leghisturl = https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1976/actions

| introducedbill = [https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1976 H.R. 1976]

| introduceddate = March 17, 2021

| introducedby = Pramila Jayapal (D–WA)

| number of co-sponsors = 121

| enacted by =

}}

{{health care reform in the United States}}

The Medicare for All Act (abbreviated M4A), also known as the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act or United States National Health Care Act, is a bill first introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Representative John Conyers (D-MI) in 2003, with 38 co-sponsors.{{USBill|108|HR|676}}[http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/racs-/-icd-9-/-icd-10/house-reps-introduce-medicare-for-all-bill.html "House Reps Introduce Medicare-for-All Bill"] Becker's Hospital Review, Feb. 14, 2013 In 2019, the original 16-year-old proposal was renumbered, and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced a broadly similar, but more detailed, bill,{{Cite web|date=2019-02-02|title=Medicare for All bill loses its special number|url=https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20190202/NEWS/190139976/medicare-for-all-bill-loses-its-special-number|access-date=2019-06-17|website=Modern Healthcare|language=en}} HR 1384, in the 116th Congress.{{Cite web|date=2019-02-27|title=Dingell, Jayapal and more than 100 Co-Sponsors Introduce Medicare For All Act of 2019|url=https://debbiedingell.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1659|access-date=2019-06-18|website=U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell|language=en}} {{As of|2019|November|3|df=US}}, it had 116 co-sponsors still in the House at the time, or 49.8% of House Democrats.{{cite web|title=H.R.1384 - Medicare for All Act of 2019|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1384/all-info#cosponsors-content|access-date=2019-11-03|publisher=U.S. Congress}}

The act would establish a universal single-payer national health insurance system in the United States, the rough equivalent of Canada's Medicare and Taiwan's Bureau of National Health Insurance, among other examples. Under a single-payer system, most medical care would be paid for by the federal government, ending the need for private health insurance and premiums, and re-casting private insurance companies as providing purely supplemental coverage, to be used when non-essential care is sought. The national system would be paid for in part through taxes replacing insurance premiums, but also by savings realized through the provision of preventive universal health care and the elimination of insurance company overhead and hospital billing costs.{{cite news|last=Krugman |first=Paul |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/opinion/13krugman.html |title=One Nation, Uninsured |work=The New York Times |date=June 13, 2005 |access-date=December 4, 2011}}

On September 13, 2017, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a parallel bill in the United States Senate, with 16 co-sponsors.{{Cite web |url=http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-sponsor-single-payer-healthcare-bill-574403|title=Bernie Sanders to Sponsor Single-Payer Healthcare Bill |website=Newsweek |date=Mar 26, 2017}}{{cite tweet |author=RoseAnn DeMoro |user=RoseAnnDeMoro |number=908031640995168256 |date=September 13, 2017 |title=.@BernieSanders shouts out the Democrats that did the right thing in supporting #MedicareForAll. #WednesdayWisdom |access-date=13 September 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/676|title=115th United States Congress |date=2017–2018 |publisher=U.S. Congress }} The act would establish a universal single-payer health care system in the United States.

Provisions

The laws proposed are not necessarily identical year-over-year.

= John Conyers' bill =

The summary of the National Health Care Act as proposed in the 111th Congress (2009–2010) includes the following elements, among others:{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/house-bill/676|title=United States National Health Care Act – Summary|publisher=U.S. Congress|access-date=December 4, 2011}}

  1. Expands the Medicare program to provide all individuals residing in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and territories of the United States with tax-funded health care that includes all medically necessary care. That would include primary and preventive care, prescription drugs, emergency care, long-term care, mental health services, dental services, and vision care.
  2. Prohibits an institution from participating unless it is a public or nonprofit institution. Allows nonprofit health maintenance organizations (HMOs) that deliver care in their own facilities to participate. On the whole, private insurance would be replaced with the new nationalized system for all basic, major care.
  3. Gives patients the freedom to choose from participating physicians and institutions, which, given the coverage of the new national system, would be any institution or clinic in the United States receiving any degree of public funding (the vast majority).
  4. Prohibits a private health insurer from selling health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this Act. Allows the private insurers to sell benefits not medically necessary, such as cosmetic surgery benefits.
  5. Sets forth methods to pay institutional providers of care and health professionals for services. Prohibits financial incentives between HMOs and physicians based on utilization.
  6. Establishes the USNHC Trust Fund to finance the Program with amounts deposited: (1) from existing sources of government revenues for health care; (2) by increasing personal income taxes on the top 5% of income earners; (3) by instituting a progressive excise tax on payroll and self-employment income; and (4) by instituting a small tax on stock and bond transactions. Transfers and appropriates amounts that would have been appropriated for federal public health care programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Taxes would be paid instead of insurance premiums, as the government (instead of private insurance companies) would be paying for the care under the single-payer health care.
  7. Establishes a program to assist individuals whose jobs are eliminated (such as within insurance companies) by the simplified single-payer administrative process.
  8. Requires creation of a confidential electronic patient record system.
  9. Establishes a National Board of Universal Quality and Access to provide advice on quality, access, and affordability.
  10. Provides for the eventual integration of the Indian Health Service into the Program and evaluation of the continued independence of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health programs.
  11. The bill covers treatments starting on the first day of the year that follows one year after the date of passage.
  12. Compensation continues for 15 years to owners of converting for-profit providers for reasonable financial losses.

= Pramila Jayapal's bill =

Pramila Jayapal's Medicare for All Act of 2019, introduced in the House is broadly similar but more detailed than the original Conyers proposal, but the "parallel" proposal by Sanders has significant differences, including a "global budget" system for hospitals.{{Cite journal|title=Unpacking The House Medicare-For-All Bill |journal= Health Affairs|year= 2019|url=https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20190302.150578/full/|language=en|doi=10.1377/forefront.20190302.150578|last1= Keith|first1= Katie|url-access=subscription}} Both proposals contain expansive coverage including long-term care and dental care with no cost-sharing such as coinsurance, deductibles, or premiums, which as of 2019 is unprecedented in the world.{{Cite journal|last=Wilensky|first=Gail R.|date=2019-04-29|title=Medicare for All|url=https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/articles/medicare-for-all/|journal=The Milbank Quarterly|language=en-US|volume=97|issue=2|pages=391–394|doi=10.1111/1468-0009.12389|pmc=6554505|pmid=31033020}}

Under the House version, funding for institutions such as hospitals would be negotiated with regional directors, while individual providers would be paid a fee-for-service.{{Cite journal|title=Taking Medicare For All Seriously |journal= Health Affairs|year= 2019|url=https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20190606.959973/full/|language=en|doi=10.1377/forefront.20190606.959973|last1= Foley|first1= Jonathan|url-access=subscription}} Value-based pay for performance incentives would not be allowed. HHS would have administrative authority to set various details.

The Senate proposal sets out a four-year transition plan and the House proposal is two years.{{cite web|last1=Klein|first1=Ezra|title=Pramila Jayapal Thinks We Can Get to Medicare-for-all Fast|date=February 28, 2019|url=https://www.vox.com/2019/2/28/18244547/jayapal-medicare-for-all-ezra-klein-show|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228233759/https://www.vox.com/2019/2/28/18244547/jayapal-medicare-for-all-ezra-klein-show|archive-date=February 28, 2019|access-date=March 4, 2019|df=mdy-all}}

As of April 2019, the Senate proposal did not include details on how to completely pay for the plan, but Sanders had released a paper listing ideas.{{Cite web|last=Kliff|first=Sarah|date=2019-04-10|title=Bernie Sanders's Medicare-for-all plan, explained|url=https://www.vox.com/2019/4/10/18304448/bernie-sanders-medicare-for-all|access-date=2019-06-18|website=Vox}}{{Cite web|title=OPTIONS TO FINANCE MEDICARE FOR ALL|url=https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/options-to-finance-medicare-for-all?inline=file}}

Dean Phillips, the Democratic congressman who challenged Joe Biden for the Party's nomination for President in 2024, endorsed Pramila Jayapal's “Medicare for All” legislation during his campaign.{{cite news|last=Otterbein|first=Holly|date=December 20, 2023|title='Medicare for All' bill becomes part of Dean Phillips's presidential pitch|work=Politico|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/20/democratic-challenger-dean-phillips-signs-onto-medicare-for-all-bill-00132612|access-date=December 10, 2024}}{{cite news|last1=Epstein|first1=Reid J.|last2=Stolberg|first2=Sheryl Gay|author-link2=Sheryl Gay Stolberg|date=December 20, 2023|title=Dean Phillips, an upstart challenger to Biden, embraces 'Medicare for All'|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/20/us/politics/dean-phillips-medicare-for-all-biden.html|access-date=December 10, 2024}}

Legislative history

{{as of|2022|12|13}}:

class="wikitable"

!Congress

!Short title

!Bill number(s)

!Date introduced

!Sponsor(s)

!# of cosponsors

!Latest status

108th Congress

|Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act of 2003

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/house-bill/676 H.R. 676]

|February 12, 2003

|John Conyers

(D-MI)

|38

|Died in Committee

109th Congress

|Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act of 2005

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-bill/676 H.R. 676]

|February 8, 2005

|John Conyers

(D-MI)

|78

|Died in Committee

110th Congress

|United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act) of 2007

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/676 H.R. 676]

|January 24, 2007

|John Conyers

(D-MI)

|93

|Died in Committee

111th Congress

|Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act of 2009

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/house-bill/676 H.R. 676]

|January 26, 2009

|John Conyers

(D-MI)

|87

|Died in Committee

112th Congress

|Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act of 2011

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/676 H.R. 676]

|February 11, 2011

|John Conyers

(D-MI)

|77

|Died in Committee

113th Congress

|Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act of 2013

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/676 H.R. 676]

|February 13, 2013

|John Conyers

(D-MI)

|63

|Died in Committee

114th Congress

|Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act of 2015

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/676 H.R. 676]

|February 3, 2015

|John Conyers

(D-MI)

|62

|Died in Committee

rowspan="2" |115th Congress

| rowspan="2" |Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act of 2017

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/676 H.R. 676]

|January 24, 2017

|John Conyers

(D-MI)

|124

|Died in Committee

[https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1804 S. 1804]

|September 13, 2017

|Bernie Sanders

(I-VT)

|16

|Died in Committee

rowspan="2" |116th Congress

| rowspan="2" |Medicare for All Act of 2019

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1384 H.R. 1384]

|February 27, 2019

|Pramila Jayapal

(D-WA)

|118

|Died in Committee

[https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1129 S. 1129]

|April 10, 2019

|Bernie Sanders

(I-VT)

|14

|Died in Committee

rowspan="2" |117th CongressMedicare for All Act of 2021

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1976 H.R. 1976]

|March 17, 2021

|Pramila Jayapal

(D-WA)

|122

|Died in Committee

Medicare for All Act of 2022

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4204 S. 4204]

|May 12, 2022

|Bernie Sanders

(I-VT)

|14

|Died in Committee

rowspan="2" |118th Congress

| rowspan="2" |Medicare for All Act of 2023

|[https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3421 H.R. 3421]

|May 17, 2023

|Pramila Jayapal

(D-WA)

|113

|Referred to Committees of Jurisdiction

[https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1655?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22Medicare+for+all+Act%22%7D&s=1&r=1 S.1655]

|May 17, 2023

|Bernie Sanders

(I-VT)

|14

|Referred to Committees of Jurisdiction

Analysis

An analysis of the bill by Physicians for a National Health Program estimated the immediate savings at $350 billion per year.Physicians for a National Health Program (2008) [http://www.pnhp.org/facts/single_payer_system_cost.php?page=all "Single Payer System Cost?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206190254/http://www.pnhp.org/facts/single_payer_system_cost.php?page=all|date=December 6, 2010}} Others have estimated a long-term savings amounting to 40% of all national health expenditures due to the extended preventive healthcare and the elimination of insurance company overhead costs.{{cite journal|last1=Hogg|first1=W.|last2=Baskerville|first2=N|last3=Lemelin|first3=J|year=2005|title=Cost savings associated with improving appropriate and reducing inappropriate preventive care: cost-consequences analysis|journal=BMC Health Services Research|volume=5|issue=1|page=20|doi=10.1186/1472-6963-5-20|pmc=1079830|pmid=15755330 |doi-access=free }}

A study estimated the 1999 costs of U.S. health care administration at nearly $300 billion, accounting for 30.1% of health care expenses, versus 16.7% in Canada. This study estimated the U.S. per-person administrative cost at $1,059.{{cite web |url=http://www.pnhp.org/publications/nejmadmin.pdf |title=Research Report-Harvard & Canadian Institute for Health Information-Costs of Healthcare Administration in the U.S. and Canada 2003 |access-date=December 4, 2011}}

Charles Blahouse, who worked as George W. Bush's economic advisor and as a public trustee for medicare and social security, wrote a Mercatus Center study of the 2017 proposal{{Cite journal|last=Blahous|first=Charles|date=2018-07-30|title=The Costs of a National Single-Payer Healthcare System|journal=Mercatus Research Paper|language=en|location=Rochester, NY|publisher=Mercatus Center|ssrn=3232864}} It claims that Sanders' M4A plan will increase federal spending by at least $32 trillion (this money is currently going to private healthcare) but that the savings on administrative and other costs could save $2 trillion in healthcare costs. However, Blahouse stresses that these savings rely on multiple generous assumptions and that the plan will likely cost significantly more.

A 2019 analysis was critical of Sanders' bill for allowing accountable care organizations and failing to include a provision to negotiate budgets with hospitals.{{Cite web|url=https://thedeductible.com/2019/04/23/rep-jayapal-and-sen-sanders-have-introduced-medicare-for-all-bills-one-is-a-lot-better-than-the-other/|title=Rep Jayapal and Sen Sanders Have Introduced Medicare For All Bills: One Is a Lot Better Than the Other|last=scripthacker|date=2019-04-23|website=the deductible|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-17}}

According to a 2020 study in The Lancet, the Medicare for All Act was estimated to save 13% in national health-care expenditure (equivalent to more than US$450 billion annually), and save more than 68,500 lives every year.{{Cite journal|last1=Galvani|first1=Alison P.|last2=Parpia|first2=Alyssa S.|last3=Foster|first3=Eric M.|last4=Singer|first4=Burton H.|last5=Fitzpatrick|first5=Meagan C.|date=2020-02-15|title=Improving the prognosis of health care in the USA|journal=The Lancet|language=en|volume=395|issue=10223|pages=524–533|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(19)33019-3|pmid=32061298|pmc=8572548|s2cid=211105345|issn=0140-6736}}

See also

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=Other countries=

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.pnhp.org/ PNHP.org]—Physicians for a National Health Program
  • [http://www.healthcare-now.org/ Healthcare-now.org]—Healthcare-NOW!
  • [http://www.singlepayernow.net SinglePayerNow.net]—Single Payer Now!
  • [http://www.medicareforall.org/pages/Home MedicareForAll.org]—"Single-payer for the USA".

Category:Proposed legislation of the 108th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 109th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 110th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 111th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 112th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 113th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 114th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 115th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 116th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 117th United States Congress

Category:Healthcare reform legislation in the United States

Category:Medicare and Medicaid (United States)

National Health Care Act

Category:John Conyers