After Tuesday’s Democrat debate I wanted to give my take on the Medicare for All issue. Great idea, if it wasn’t for spineless, self-serving politicians it could have been in effect 50 years ago. The elephant in the room that most people ignore is how to pay for it. What is totally mind boggling is that most of the Democrat candidates for president also want to have open borders and free Medicare for what will be millions of immigrants as well. In a few words, this is all impossible to pay for.

Please consider the national healthcare insurance system of Germany, a successful health insurance policy that, despite two world wars and two currency reforms, has been in effect since 1889. What makes it successful is fair, equitable taxation of a well trained and well paid workforce. Their premiums don’t fully cover the pay outs so there is a higher taxation rate to help cover its expense.

In the U.S. there is fully 44% of the populous that pays no taxes; reason being their wages are so low they don’t earn enough to owe any taxes. Not to be ignored is the middle class capable of paying taxes is rapidly disappearing. For the past 40 years good paying jobs have been steadily off-shored.

If Medicare for All is enacted without serious attention to how to pay for it without tanking our economy we will all long regret the consequences and have to suffer for years in dealing with it.

Erich Vogt,
Rifle