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‘Medicare for All’ means Medicare for none

by Merrill Matthews, opinion contributor – 08/25/26 8:00 AM ET

It may be one of the most deceptive public policy marketing schemes in modern history. First, pick the most popular health insurance program in the country, which is Medicare. Then call your health insurance reform proposal “Medicare for All,” even though the intent is to eliminate the Medicare program as we know it, so that no one would have that coverage anymore.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has long pushed to end the nation’s current mix of private health insurance (that is, employer-based and individually purchased) and government-provided health insurance (Medicare and Medicaid) and replace it with a new government-run program. Taxpayers would pay higher taxes — though no one would pay premiums — and the government would pay all medical bills.

Under most government-run health care systems, as in the United Kingdom, the government determines what services and medicines are available, who can have them and when. Bureaucrats rather than doctors decide whether patients are allowed to have access to those services and medicines.

That is what Sanders and 71 percent of Democrats mean by Medicare for All. But that’s not Medicare.

Sanders knows he’s being deceptive. His Senate website says, “Medicare is the most popular health care program in America.” Then he claims that under Medicare for All, “every resident of the U.S. will receive health insurance through an expanded Medicare program.” That is a blatantly false statement.

Medicare has multiple parts. Part A covers hospital bills, Part B covers doctors’ bills, Part C is now Medicare Advantage and Part D covers prescription drugs. Medicare for All has none of that.

Importantly, Medicare Advantage relies on private sector health insurance similar to employer plans. Seniors have a choice between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Currently, 55 percent of eligible seniors choose Medicare Advantage. Medicare for All excludes private sector coverage, including Medicare Advantage.

Remember President Obama’s promise for the Affordable Care Act? “If you like your health plan, you can keep it,” is what he said. That won him [the] Politifact2013 “Lie of the Year.” But Sanders won’t make that claim, because he intends to ensure no one has their current health plan, including people currently on Medicare.

Read more: Why “Medicare for All” could eliminate current health insurance – The Hill

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