Questions for All - Medicare for All Primer for Journalists

Now that Kamala Harris, a top-tier Democratic candidate for President has announced her support for Sanders's Medicare for All plan, it's time for journalists to start asking tough, informed question. Because we all know how hard that is for them, here is a primer to get them started. Hopefully, they might use this to actually inform the public unlike what happened with Obamacare, where I defy you to identify a single story in the New York Times or on cable news that included the fact that about 1/3 of the uninsured at the time were illegal immigrants and 1/3 were eligible for Medicaid but had not enrolled. Of the latter group, it is almost certainly the case (but we will never know since the media didn't report on it), that these uninsured were healthy individuals who were reasonably waiting until they needed healthcare before enrolling. If Americans had known this ahead of time, then they wouldn't be surprised to find out that Obamacare has reduced the uninsurance rate by only 40-50%. But of course, that fact is barely mentioned these days either, and if so, it is assuredly blamed on the states that did not expand Medicaid.

Which leads into the first set of questions. First, "What problem(s) is Medicare for All supposed to solve?" For this, I have a suspected answer: to reduce the uninsured rate to zero and lower the costs. Any knowledgeable journalist or citizen should immediately remember that Obamacare was advertised as a solution to both problems. In the run-up to Obamacare's passage, not a single news story caveated that Obamacare would only reduce the uninsurance rate to 5-10%, not a single news story (from traditional sources) warned that Obamacare would not reduce costs, they instead repeated the administration's claims that it would lower costs. Remember, "bend the cost curve down"? The fact that the Democrats now want to fix both of these problems should be a constant reminder that Obamacare failed to solve these problems and not a single serious journalist warned Americans about these predictable shortcomings.

For specific questions, first, I want to congratulate Jake Tapper for asking a terrific question of Harris--is she in favor of completely eliminating private insurance. This is a clear outcome of the Sanders Medicare for All plan, but then, he is an avowed socialist. To which, at the risk of an over-abundance of praise, we should laud Senator Harris for replying that yes, she does want to eliminate private insurance. Her team tried to backtrack, and then later stood by her original statement. It's currently a little unclear as to what she thinks about private insurance, but we can be confident that this issue will come up again. This is the first question that should be asked of every candidate, "Do you want to, as the Sanders plan does, completely eliminate private insurance?"

Some follow up questions:

"Do you know how many people are employed directly or indirectly through the private insurance marketplace? What will happen to them? Does your plan include paying their unemployment and helping them find new jobs?"

"Will your plan do anything to make investors in these companies whole? How much money will investors, pension plans, and retirees lose from your nationalization of insurance?"

The second set of questions involves Medicare Advantage. President Obama and the Democrats tried to mortally wound Medicare Advantage by reducing payments to MA plans through the ACA, but it, to the surprise of everyone, grew after the passage of the ACA. For those who don't know, Medicare Advantage offers Medicare recipients a private option to compete with traditional Medicare. Approximately one third of eligible seniors choose an MA plan in lieu of traditional Medicare. As far as I know, the Medicare for All plans do not mention Medicare Advantage, but I would assume they want to do away with it. 

Questions:

"Will your plan, in addition to eliminating the current plans of the majority of working Americans also eliminate the plans of approximately 1/3 of seniors? If Medicare for All does not pass, do you still favor eliminating Medicare Advantage? Do you believe choice is good for consumers in general? What about the healthcare market makes choice a negative factor?"

These questions should be asked of the candidates, not because they're "gotcha" questions, because they aren't. They are serious and important questions that will matter to people. They impact a lot of people's lives and they show that the candidate has done her homework and is not just promising the moon. If journalists start doing their job and actually providing the public information, Americans can replace the epithets they currently hurl at each other with facts.