Sen. Bernie Sanders, responding to Joe Biden’s criticisms of the cost of his healthcare plan, said that if we did nothing on healthcare, we’d be spending $50 trillion over the next decade.
Actually, Sanders was slightly off, as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that over the next 10 years, spending by governments, businesses, and individuals will collectively reach $52 trillion under the status quo.
The problem is, under this measurement, his healthcare plan would cost $59 trillion. And that’s not from some right-wing sources — it’s the projection of the liberal Urban Institute.
In its analysis, the Urban Institute looked at all of the potential administrative savings that drive down health spending under a plan with one government payer. However, it found that savings would be more than offset by the increase in spending if everybody were given free health coverage with no premiums, co-payments, or deductibles.
As their report put it, “The increase in spending for people with this new generous coverage would outweigh the savings from lower prices for health care providers and lower administrative costs. As a result, total national spending would increase, even taking into account greatly reduced household, employer, and state government spending.”
As a result, “National health spending would increase by $7 trillion over the same 10-year period, from $52 to $59 trillion.”
The cost often associated with the Sanders plan ($34 trillion) refers to the increase in the cost to the federal government, as opposed to all spending on healthcare in the United States.
By any measure, the Sanders plan would dramatically increase the amount the U.S. spends on healthcare.
