CBO Reaffirms Dangers Of Single-Payer Health Care System

Statement

The House Budget Committee today held a hearing with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to discuss its recent report on imposing a one-size-fits-all, single-payer health care system, as Democrats' Medicare-for-All proposal would do. The hearing today reaffirmed many of the risks associated with this approach, including:

Outlawing Americans' Existing Coverage

"I think all of us want to provide insurance for those who don't [have it], I don't know a single person who doesn't want to achieve that goal, but I also know that something like 60 percent of Americans don't want to lose their private insurance, and don't want to be held outside of the law if they were to choose to do that." -- Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT)

Disrupting Seniors' Care

"Our seniors who currently rely on Medicare would have their care disrupted too. After a lifetime of work to earn their Medicare benefits, American seniors would be forced into a one-size-fits-all, government-run health care system, no longer tailored to the needs of our older citizens, but one that rations care and limits their access." -- Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO)

Exposing Americans' Personal Information

"Yes absolutely." -- CBO Deputy Director Mark Hadley in response to Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) asking if the security for the standardized IT system needed to establish and operate a single-payer health care system should cause concern.

"Yes." -- Deputy Director Hadley, when asked by Rep. Johnson, "is there a precedent for large-scale government data breaches in government-run databases?" Rep. Johnson noted recent breaches of government-run databases that exposed tens of millions of Americans' personal data.

Harming Patients With Pre-Existing Conditions

"This system ends up hurting patients with the most unique conditions, also known as patients with pre-existing conditions, because their care requires flexibility and innovation, both of which are drastically reduced in a single-payer system." -- Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX)

Making It More Difficult To See Your Doctor

"If there is a mismatch between the demand for care and the supply of care, then you would end up with increased wait times and problems with access to care. … That might mean needing to travel further distances to see doctors." -- Deputy Director Hadley, when asked by Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) about the potential impact of a single-payer system on the supply of doctors.

Disadvantaging Low- and Middle-Income Americans

"I don't know about the elites, but I'll go with the wealthy." -- Deputy Director Hadley confirming for Rep. Stewart that only the wealthiest Americans would be able to afford additional services beyond what a public plan covers.

As Ranking Member Womack put it:

"This is the direction some lawmakers want to take your health care -- and it will have consequences that ripple through the most personal aspects of American life, from fewer doctors and longer wait times to less access and no choices."