Bill,


Thanks for the heads up over David Brooks' post in Mondays New York Times. I read him  religiously, yet somehow I missed this one. Even if I were a better writer, I couldn't have improved upon his argument. MFA (Medicare For All) is simply a terrible idea on multiple fronts. What Brooks leaves out is the fact that aside from every other argument, the politics for Democrats of taking away  employer-based health care from the 180 million Americans who like it is suicidal. I predict the idea will quietly dissipate by the general election,. Unless of course, the Democratic nominee is, god forbid, Bernie, or Liz.


Though you may hate those as well, there are much easier solutions that accomplish the same goal of providing universal access.


1) Allow anyone over 55 to buy into Medicare-lets call that Medicare for most.
2) Support and strengthen Medicaid access under the ACA.
3) Provide a public option on the exchanges-the policy option that Sen Lieberman destroyed back in 2009.
4) Allow Medicare to bargain for drug and device prices.


These maneuvers, which could easily pass a Democratic Congress and be readily signed by President Hickenlooper in 2021, would continue the kind of incremental change that our healthcare system so desperately needs.


Eli