2022 will be a problem for Democrats and are running the risk of losing control of Congress. Historically, the party in power has lost, on average, 27 House seats since 1946. Midterms are a backlash to the party of the president's policies, and it is likely that the Democrats will lose seats. Pennsylvania is the key to the balance of power in the United States Senate with the retirement of U.S Sen. Pat Toomey. The interparty divide is between the progressive candidates or the more centrist contenders. Based on current polling, John Fetterman is the leading candidate for the Democratic party. He believes that health care is a fundamental human right similar to housing, food, and education. In a campaign ad, he said: "It is a fact that every person is going to require healthcare during the course of their lives, and every American deserves ready access to it" However, the general election is not until November 8th, 2022, with a third of voters still undecided. The Democratic primary will illuminate the messaging for Democrats that they need to go big on healthcare to win elections. It has been proven successful in the past. Democrats won back the House by flipping 41 seats in 2018 because of their messaging to save Obamacare. According to the 2018 midterm exit polls, healthcare was the most important issue to voters, followed by immigration and the economy. By advocating for more affordable and more accessible healthcare, Democrats found success in the 2020 election as the country dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our current healthcare system is failing. The United States spends more than twice per person on healthcare than other high-income countries. Yet, it performs poorly in quality of care and health indicators such as infant mortality, life expectancy, and preventable deaths. The United States ranks last in the categories of administrative efficiency, equity, and health care outcomes. The burden of paying for the healthcare system falls on hard-working Americans.
Out of the 25 wealthiest countries, the United States is the only one not to guarantee its citizens access to health care. A single-payer system will ensure all Americans have access to medical care, repair the gaps in the healthcare system, eliminate all out-of-pocket spending, guarantee all communities receive adequate health resources and increase investment in public health. Moreover, it will save money.
Medicare for All is a contentious issue. Senator Sanders put the plan on the political map in 2016, made it a defining issue of the 2020 primary race, and continues to champion it. In his regression analysis of the 2018 election, Political Science Professor Alan I. Abramowitz showed that Democratic House candidates who supported Medicare for All performed worse than those who did not, even when controlling for other factors.
A common criticism is that Medicare for All is too expensive. Over ten years, it would cost between $30 trillion and $40 trillion. This sum is less than the $3.8 trillion Americans spent on medical care in 2019, and considerably less than the $60 trillion currently projected for the next decade, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, through increased efficiencies, it would reduce overall health expenditures. In passing Medicare for all, Congress will save more than 68,000 lives and the resulting improvements in life expectancy will lead to 13% savings in national spending, around $450 billion annually, according to a recent study by Yale epidemiologists[ZC1] .
Another criticism is the association of Medicare for All [ZC2] with socialism. Republicans love to lambast the policy as socialist. As former President Trump said: “If Democrats win control of Congress this November, we will come dangerously closer to socialism in America. Government-run health care is just the beginning.” It is common messaging by the Republicans. In their fight against Medicare, Ronald Reagan criticized it as entering a “freedom-crushing socialist state” with Barry Goldwater echoing similar sentiments in the 1964 election.
Democrats should message that it is a champion for racial justice. It will ameliorate health inequities. According to a 2015 study[ZC3] , Black men who enjoy adequate access to health care have a 24% lower death rate and are 37% less likely than white men to develop heart disease. With Medicare coverage, Black kidney disease patients covered by Medicare survive longer than white patients, a 2009 study concluded. In a 2020 study[ZC4] , researchers found that a significant factor in disparities of the stage of a breast cancer diagnosis is access to care and insurance coverage. The messaging should continue that it will reduce healthcare costs and save money. Lastly, it is simple: everyone is guaranteed coverage.
A lot has changed since the 2018 election. In 56 cities across the United States, thousands of demonstrators advocated for the Medicare for All plan. Over the past two years, support for Medicare for All has maintained strong, according to a new Hill-HarrisX poll[ZC5] . Among Democrats, support increased by 2 percent, and among independents, the support for the bill remained around 68%. In the 2020 election, supporters of Medicare for All won in both safe districts and Trump country. The progressive element of the party is not to blame for the losses. Every candidate who cosponsored Pamila Jayapal’s 2019 Medicare for All legislation won reelection [ZC6] during the 2020 election. Seven supporters of Medicare for All replaced democratic incumbents. For example, Matt Cartwright spoke on Fox News advocating for Medicare for All and cosponsored the bill. His district has voted Republican 70% of the time in the past twenty years. Even though Trump carried the area, he won his reelection by 3.6 points. In California, three backers of Medicare for All won in Republican-leaning districts. Medicare for All must be a priority for the 2022 election. Every crisis lies an opportunity. COVID-19 exacerbated the problems with our healthcare systems.
Democrats should push to implement Medicare for all now. Expanding health insurance through budget reconciliation is an option on the table. It can provide a platform for future developments. Biden already used reconciliation[ZC7] for the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). To address the problems of access, affordability, and equity, Congress must pass H.R.1976 - Medicare for All Act of 2021, which expands Medicare to cover every person in the United States. The majority of voters support this bill. Doing nothing is not an option. Congress must go big and fix our broken healthcare system by passing Medicare for All.