Although it was anything but straightforward, last night's Democratic health care debate was partially about who pays for health care and how they pay for it.
Case in point: Sen. Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden brought up copays and deductibles in their spat about, among other things, whether to eliminate the employer insurance system.
- Addressing the fact that the most liberal Medicare for All plans would offer care without deductibles, Biden said, "The fact of the matter is that there will be a deductible — there will be a deductible in their paycheck."
The big picture: We currently pay for health care through taxes, premiums and our out-of-pocket spending. Medicare for All — whether it's full-blown single payer or a public option — shifts at least some of that spending on premiums and deductibles onto taxpayers.
- That shift would likely hit higher income brackets and corporations harder than lower ones, depending on how the plan is structured.
The bottom line: How receptive Americans are to a more expansive version of Medicare for All is almost certainly related to how they feel about their increasing out-of-pocket obligations.
Related: President Trump is prepping an executive order for next week that's focused on strengthening Medicare, WSJ reports. A White House official said that the order is intended to serve as a point of contrast with Democrats' Medicare for All push.
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