Ugh this is such a dumb idea if we want to win stuff in 2018 and 2020
Agreed. A single-payer healthcare system would be so difficult to sell to middle-class people. Why? Republicans would very, very easily characterize it as levying a 40% tax increase. Democrats would get slaughtered with those kinds of figures.
We also just saw how rushed and overly simple healthcare reform might not pass even with majorities in both houses and the White House. Do you guys remember when Bernie's campaign claimed his plan would save the country more in drug costs than what the whole country spent, and then he had to go amend it and add $100 billion dollars to the budget? Saying "we'll make Wall Street pay for it" is almost as disingenuous as what Trump says about his wall, which is why I don't trust Sanders on healthcare.
Democrats should just go all in on a public option and move closer to a multi-payer system like what they have in Germany or the Netherlands, since I think most people, especially those in states where they are losing insurers, can get on board with the idea of having a permanent, more affordable option in the market. Then they need to make an online calculator and market the sh*t out of it so everyone can see how they would be affected by the Democratic plan. In my opinion, this is an easier sell to make than full-on socialized medicine.
Yeah, singlepayer is great on paper, but the actual implementation of it would be a political disaster that would destroy the Democratic Party for generations. It would require huge tax increases, and yes, most of those tax increases would just be replacing monthly premium payments, but people are too dumb to understand that.
Democrats need to run on expanding and strengthening Medicaid, a public option to bring down costs and increase competition in the exchanges, and dropping the Medicare age to 55 or so.
