Quick attacks on Harris' plan show ruling class fear

Senator Kamala Harris

Well, it certainly looks as though Kamala Harris has made a big impression.

Harris, a first-term senator from California, jumped into the 2020 presidential race with big ideas.

First, higher taxes on incomes of more than $10 million a year.

Second, Medicare for all.

A government-run, single-payer health care system that would eliminate private health insurance.

In other words, a system similar to those of nearly every other western nation.


The attacks came quickly, from both sides of the spectrum. Someone claimed the cost to the government would be $32 trillion, about eight times the amount of the entire federal budget, to provide free health care to all.

Where would all that money come from?

First off, the number is a scare tactic. The $32 trillion claim is for a 10-year period, so it's actually $3.2 trillion per year.

Second, what's this nonsense about free health care? My wife and I are on Medicare and not only do we pay both for Medicare and for our Medicare supplement plan, we have co-pays every time we visit a doctor.

Everyone on Medicare has it deducted each month from their Social Security. Then they pay additional fees for a private supplemental plan.

We pay about $7,000 a year for our insurances, and that's with an additional $4,000 or so paid by her former employer as part of her retirement benefits.

To be fair, the supplemental insurance we purchase is top of the line. It's a PPO, not an HMO, but what it does for us is both cover just about everything and also enable us to see specialists without getting approval from the company.

In the end, that's what it's really all about. Most people who don't have insurance don't want free insurance, they just want a chance to buy coverage at a fair price. Eliminating the profit motive from insurance would go a long way to reduce costs.

In fact, if we're being honest, it would reduce costs enough actually to save money.

Yes, it would be disruptive. It would eliminate all sorts of jobs in insurance companies, as there would be a transitional period as companies switched to secondary roles.

Never forget that we spend more on medical care for lesser results than most other countries. We're nowhere near the top 20 in rankings of the care we provide.

We have to stop letting the wealthiest among us lie to us and set the agenda.

It's time we grow up as a nation.