@maporsche,
Quote:Hypothetical Budget for Person making $50,000
Net Pay = $3000/mo
Rent/Mort = $1000/mo
Utilities = $200/mo
Car/Gas/Insurance = $500/mo
After the most basic bills almost everyone has, this person is left with $1,300/month to pay for health insurance, food, clothing, entertainment, personal care, education loans, etc. This also assumes a single person with no children.
So, progressives, give me a number that this person should be expected to pay for healthcare costs (through taxes, premiums, copays, etc).
There is no easy simple answer, because there are way too many possible variables from one person to the next.
There are experts who are better in answering your specific questions.
Of course I am not an expert, but I will give my own opinion using your hypothetical scenario of an individual who is grossing $50,000 annually.
First I would create a new (Medicare-for-all) tax that we all would have to pay. I would not use a dollar amount to come out of our pay checks and income. I would only use a percentage amount to come out of our pay checks and income.
I would create a (Medicare-for-all) tax of 5 percent of everyone's gross income to help fund the program. That 5 percent (Medicare-for-all) tax would be applied to all income, regardless of how high of the person's income. If you make $50, 000 annually, your (Medicare-for-all) tax will be 5 percent. If you make 100 million dollars annually, your (Medicare-for-all) tax will also be taxed at 5 percent. If you make 1 billion dollars annually, your (Medicare-for-all) tax would be taxed at 5 percent. This way the higher income earners will be paying more into the program than the lower income earners. That would allow the lower income earners to pay lower premiums while the program is still getting the funds it needs.
The $50,000 annual income or $4,166 monthly income would be taxed at 5 percent.
In this hypothetical example the 5 percent (Medicare-for-all) tax would equal $2500 annually or $208 monthly in (Medicare-for-all) taxes.
I wouldn't have patients paying any deductibles for medical care and treatments.
I would have a 20 percent copayment for any and all medical services and treatments to help fund the program.
Once the government have everyone enrolled in the Medicare-For-All program, that would give the government a much greater leverage than they ever had in negotiating lower prices with the medical community.
When you have one or two hundred million people as your clients, you will definitely have a lot of leverage in negating for lower prices with the medical community.
This negotiating leverage would greatly reduce the cost of health care.
The medical community will no longer have to be concern about not being paid. That will save the medical community a lot in administrative cost.
Everyone who is currently paying monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and co-payments with their (private) insurance company, will no longer need the private insurance coverage. All the money that you will
no longer be paying through the private health insurance would
offset your cost related to Medicare-for-all. In fact, when it's all said and done you may actually end up paying less money in this hypothetical scenario.
As I said at the beginning, I am not an expert.
None of this is factual. None of this factual. None of this is factual.
This is only a made up scenario.
This is only an opinion.
Take everything I am say here "with a grain a salt".