Bernie’s Single-Payer Implosion

WASHINGTON, June 22 -- The National Republican Senatorial Committee issued the following news release:

Senate Democrats have refused to offer practical alternatives to Obamacare's devastating fallout. But, among the few completely impractical ideas put forward by the left is socialist Senator Bernie Sanders' proposal for a single-payer health care system - a plan that would increase Federal expenditures by a total of $32 trillion over a ten-year period.

Last month the Urban Institute, a non-profit economic policy research organization, released a report outlining Senator Sanders' single-payer health care plan - and the results were startling. Under Sanders' proposal, all Americans would be covered by a single, government-run insurance program, making all private and public coverage programs a responsibility of the Federal Government and of American taxpayers.

Here are just a few of the estimated costs of Bernie's single-payer plan as detailed in the report:

* Acute care for the non-elderly, those otherwise enrolled in Medicare, and long-term support would increase national health care spending by $6.6 trillion between 2017 and 2026.

* All state and private expenditure burdens would fall on the Federal Government, increasing Federal expenditures by a total of $32 trillion over a ten-year period.

* Though advocates argue Sanders' proposal could save private employers money, the Urban Institute's analysis shows the total cost of a single-payer plan still costs $16.6 trillion more than potential private sector savings.

It's clear Sanders' plan would have devastating impacts on the American economy and place unrealistic financial burdens on the American people. These kind of off-base proposals, in coordination with Senate Democrats' unfaltering grasp on Obamacare's failures, are a prime example of liberal obstruction. In total, the single-payer plan is anything but a legitimate alternative to Obamacare.

"It's clearer than ever that Americans need a realistic alternative to Obamacare, and that Democrats have no serious solutions," said NRSC Communications Director Katie Martin. "Instead of playing partisan, political games, Senate Democrats should work to fix the damage that their Obamacare has inflicted on our health care system."