The White House has described President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion American Families Plan as “human infrastructure” to explain why they included child care, prekindergarten, tuition-free community college, and paid family leave. The investments will be paid for by a combination of tax increases and corporate tax hikes. But White House press secretary Jen Psaki shared that President Biden will also talk about expanding and increasing access to health care.
In a last minute change, the plan will also include $200 billion to extend more health insurance subsidies through the Affordable Care Act. GOP lawmakers opposed the legislation and criticized the bill for including too many expensive provisions already that aren’t directly related to fighting COVID-19. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called it a “laundry list of left-wing priorities that predate the pandemic.”
But Psaki shared that President Biden’s Families Plan would not represent the totality of every priority and item on his agenda that he wants to move forward with as President. Since then, Senate Budget Committee Chair Sen. Bernie Sanders and 16 Democratic senators have sent President Biden a letter calling him to expand Medicare due to the coronavirus pandemic. The letter was signed as a “significant expansion of Medicare” by Sens. including Elizabeth Warren, Debbie Stabenow, Dick Durbin, and Ben Cardin.
“We write to ask that, as part of the American Families Plan, you propose reducing the Medicare eligibility age, expanding Medicare benefits to include hearing, dental, and vision care, implementing a cap on out-of-pocket expenses under traditional Medicare, and negotiating lower drug prices,” the letter states.
It goes on to explain how Medicare has been one of the “most successful and most popular federal programs in our nation’s history” and that it has been overdue to expand and improve upon the program. They urged President Biden to lower the age requirement for coverage in hearing, dental, and vision through Medicare plans, which is currently available to those 65 and older or younger with disabilities. The lawmakers argue that lowering the Medicare eligibility age would be a way to expand coverage and save lives.
“Lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60 could expand Medicare coverage to 23 million people, including nearly 2 million uninsured people, while lowering it to 55 could give over 42million people access to the program, and lowering it to 50 could cover 63 million Americans,” the letter reads.
Many Americans have fought back against the idea of federal government administering their healthcare, especially since it takes the entire public working to support Medicare. Since it only pays at 80% of the cost and for those over 65, the system is going broke. The liberal answer is to add more people and benefits, and speed up the process for everyone losing benefits. Others have pointed out how Medicare is in even worst financial shape than Social Security.
This is further proof that liberal politicians don’t know how socialized health care works. It’s not the government’s job to provide healthcare.
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