ABC News: "What to Know About 'BernieCare,' Sanders' Health Overhaul"

[Attorney in Texas]

link; excerpt:

The most ambitious "repeal and replace" health care plan from a presidential candidate comes from Sen. Bernie Sanders, ... The Vermont independent who's ... "single-payer" plan, loosely modeled on how health care is financed in Canada and most of Western Europe.
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What would be eliminated would be things such as insurance premiums, deductibles and copays. In their place would be taxes...
Simplicity of use and breadth of coverage would be big draws for consumers.

You could go to the doctor or spend two weeks in the hospital and not worry about getting a bill.

No insurance premiums, deductibles, cost-sharing or copays, even for brand-name medications. Gone would be worries about being penalized for seeing an out-of-network doctor.

Long-term care would be covered, whether in a nursing facility or one's own home. Most dental care would be covered, too.

That's attractive, especially for working families struggling with out-of-pocket costs for health care.

But the plan would raise taxes. Among them would be a new 2.2 percent "health care income tax," with higher rates for upper-income earners.
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Single-payer ... would aim to slow the rate of growth in costs by putting hospitals on budgets, negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and eliminating much of the waste that many experts believe characterizes the U.S. health care system.

Administrative savings would come from doing away with layers of insurance company bureaucracy. Those would be offset somewhat because the government bureaucracy would grow.
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Over the long haul, some experts believe that single-payer gives policymakers more powerful tools to control costs. But that doesn't magically solve the problem. Countries with long-established government-run systems also struggle with their health care spending.

[Live and Learn]

1. It is a great plan. nt