“Medicare for All” would save the U.S. more than $450 billion annually, and the increased access to healthcare would save more than 68,000 lives, compared to the current system, according to an analysis published by The Lancet.
The study offers a different perspective on what has been portrayed as an expensive policy plan, totaling between $28 trillion and $32 trillion over a decade by some estimates. The study accounts for the cost of coverage expansion, and the savings achieved by eliminating price variation, reducing billing and administrative tasks, allowing drug price negotiation, and ensuring more patients have access to preventive and continuous care. Taken together, the researchers suggest Medicare for All would lead to 13 percent savings in national healthcare expenditure. Low-income households are estimated to benefit most.
The study also notes that the expanded coverage has the potential to save an estimated 68,561 lives annually. The researchers believe this to be a “highly conservative” calculation of life potential.
They conclude that objections to single-payer based on the cost “are mistaken” and suggest the industry “seize this opportunity to promote wellbeing, enhance prosperity, and establish a more equitable health-care system for all Americans.”
Source: Becker’s Hospital Review
