Medicare for All is poised for a comeback. Earlier this month, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the former head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, released polling data showing strong support for the idea among Democrats.
Jayapal’s renewed push for socialized medicine comes as many Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate are putting single-payer at the center of their own campaigns. Those candidates include Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Rep. Robin Kelly in Illinois and Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and author of the book “Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide,” in Michigan.
This supposed enthusiasm for Medicare for All among voters will likely dissipate after they take a look at what’s happening in government-run systems abroad. Long waits, rationed care, doctor shortages, high taxes, high costs, and negligence are endemic to single-payer.
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Just look at what’s happening in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. Last month, the Royal College of Radiologists reported that more than 386,000 people in England in September had been waiting for more than six weeks for a diagnostic test for cancer, heart problems, and other serious conditions. Those delays can mean cancer diagnoses missed, weeks of unnecessary pain and suffering, and even deaths that could have been prevented.
A study published in the journal Emergency Medicine this month found that nearly one in five patients in the United Kingdom was being treated in non-standard areas like hallways. The president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said the study “reinforces that the shameful practice of corridor care is endemic in emergency departments in the UK.”
Earlier this year, a report from the charity Age UK revealed that almost 150,000 people over the age of 90 in England were forced to wait more than 12 hours for emergency care. Researchers related stories of women dying in hallways and men being forced to lie in their own urine and excrement.
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It’s no wonder that just 21% of Britons in 2024 were satisfied with the state of the NHS, while 59% were dissatisfied. Almost one in eight Britons has private health insurance. They’re lucky to have a bit of an escape hatch. Private insurance is banned in Canada; our neighbors to the north are captive to their country’s single-payer system.
American voters must take note of the suffering of patients in other countries under single-payer. That’s exactly what’s in store for them, should progressive succeed in launching a government takeover of the U.S. healthcare system.
Sally C. Pipes is President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy at the Pacific Research Institute. Her latest book is The World’s Medicine Chest: How America Achieved Pharmaceutical Supremacy — and How to Keep It (Encounter 2025). Follow her on X @sallypipes.
