What Is the Cost of Medicare for All?

Have you ever waited in line for hours at the state-run DMV? Or wanted to pull your hair out at the government-operated Post Office? Well if some members of Congress have it their way, government red tape and lackluster customer service would also extend to health care.

Government run health care has recently been repackaged as Medicare for All and is a big move away from free market competition.

As a result, the quality of service will likely drop and taxes will skyrocket. Many medical professionals have also indicated they won’t participate in a government-run health care system—so you may not be able to keep your existing doctor.

In practice, this could mean waiting hours for much needed medical care or up to a year for surgery—a major problem for time sensitive procedures.

The price tag of Medicare for All is also jaw-dropping.

Instituting the program is estimated to cost over $3 trillion per year. That’s more than the U.S. government spent on the military, healthcare, social security and other entitlement benefits combined in 2015.

Inevitably, that additional financial burden would fall onto the American taxpayer—slowing economic growth and stifling business expansion.

Medicare for All may sound good in a campaign stump speech, but putting the idea into practice is risky and comes down to one question: How do we pay for it?