The Not-So-Free Cost of “Free” Health Care

Author: Madeline Alfonso, Digital Assistant

TOPLINE: The DSA platform calls for eliminating America’s existing health insurance system and replacing it with federally administered Medicare for All. In other words, total government control of your health care.

BACKGROUND: The DSA explicitly calls for a single public health insurance program administered by the federal government, comprehensive coverage for all U.S. residents, and free health care with no premiums, deductibles, or copays. The organization describes Medicare for All as a means of replacing the existing “for-profit” health care system with a unified government-financed system.

The Fiscal Problem Cannot Be Solved by Moving the Bill to Taxpayers

• Calling health care “free at the point of service” does not make it free.
  • The costs would be shifted to taxpayers through higher taxes.
• A massive federal takeover of healthcare would make taxpayers responsible for financing an enormous new entitlement program, creating additional pressure on an already strained federal budget and $40 trillion in national debt.

State Control of Health Care Would Put Our Lives in Government’s Hands

• Government control would limit Americans’ ability to choose their doctors, insurers, and treatment options, replacing individual decision-making with a one-size-fits-all federal system.
• Eliminating competition would weaken the incentives to control costs and improve care, as providers would increasingly depend on a single government payer rather than competing to earn patients’ business.
• Government-controlled health care could put specialized care at risk if federal officials decide certain specialists, treatments, or procedures are too costly or unnecessary, limiting patients’ access to the doctors and care they need.
• The government would have full control over medicine, medical treatments and doctors in general, despite the experience of prolonged Covid lockdowns demonstrating that government health authorities aren’t always reliable.

BOTTOMLINE: The DSA’s Medicare for All would place Washington at the center of decisions currently made by patients, doctors, employers, and private insurers. Americans deserve access to affordable, high-quality care, but expanding government control is not the answer. More government spending does not make healthcare free; it simply sends the bill to taxpayers while reducing choice, competition, and individual control.