Zaid Jilani — Single Payer Opponents Say The Transition Process Would Be Too Difficult. But 10,000 People Do It Every Day.

Opponents of single payer health care frequently claim that such a system might be wonderful in theory, but getting there would be too disruptive. Many Americans, the argument goes, have private health insurance coverage and the transition to a government plan would be jarring.

“Half of America gets their health insurance coverage on the job,” American Hospital Association lobbyist and former Connecticut Democratic congressman Bruce Morrison told The Intercept last month. Single payer would replace coverage for some 150 million people, he noted. “If you just leaped to Medicare for All, you would totally disrupt the expectations of all those people. And that would not be a good idea.”

But roughly 10,000 Americans make that transition every single day. We call them seniors who are enrolling in Medicare for the first time....

“If you just leaped to Medicare for All, you would totally disrupt the expectations of all those people. And that would not be a good idea,” has to be one of the moronic statements I have ever encountered. Just about everyone would be delighted based on the experience of those already on Medicare that "graduated" from the private insurance market.

The Intercept
Single Payer Opponents Say The Transition Process Would Be Too Difficult. But 10,000 People Do It Every Day.
Zaid Jilani