As the wealthiest country in the world, we have a variety of options available to support aMedicare for All, single-payer health care system that guarantees high quality, affordable healthcare as a right, not a privilege, to every man, woman, and child in this country.
Those options include, but are not limited to:
• Creating a 4 percent income-based premium paid by employees, exempting the first$29,000 in income for a family of four;
• Imposing a 7.5 percent income-based premium paid by employers, exempting the first $2million in payroll to protect small businesses;
• Eliminating health tax expenditures;$21.0 trillion$26.0 trillionHow $47 Trillion in National HealthExpenditures is Paid ForPrivateGovernment4
• Making the federal income tax more progressive, including a marginal tax rate of up to70 percent on those making above $10 million, taxing earned and unearned income at thesame rates, and limiting tax deductions for filers in the top tax bracket;
• Making the estate tax more progressive, including a 77 percent top rate on an inheritanceabove $1 billion;
• Establishing a tax on extreme wealth;
• Closing the “Gingrich-Edwards Loophole”;
• Imposing a fee on large financial ins utions; and
• Repealing corporate accounting gimmicks.
These are just some of the policies that could provide revenue to finance Medicare for All. Underevery single one of these options the average American family will save thousands of dollars ayear because it will no longer be writing large checks to private health insurance companies.
A study by RAND found that moving to a Medicare-for-all system in New York would save afamily with an income of $185,000 or less about $3,000 a year, on average. Citizens for TaxJustice found that middle class families would see their after-tax income go up by about $3,240 ayear under Medicare for All. Another study found that middle class families would spend about14 percent less of their income on health care than they do today. Even the projections from theMercatus Center suggest that the average American could save about $6,000 under Medicare forall over a 10-year period.
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