Study: 'Medicare for All' Projected to Cost $32.6 trillion

The "Medicare for all" plan from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) would increase government healthcare spending by $32.6 trillion over 10 years, according to a study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia. The plan, reports the Associated Press , would require historic tax increases as government replaces what employers and consumers now pay for healthcare, according to the analysis. It would deliver significant savings on administration and drug costs, but increased demand for care would drive up spending, the analysis found. Under the plan, all U.S. residents would be covered with no copays and deductibles for medical services. Responding to the study, Sanders criticized the Mercatus Center, which receives funding from the conservative Koch brothers. Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch is on the center's board. "If every major country on earth can guarantee healthcare to all, and achieve better health outcomes, while spending substantially less per capita than we do, it is absurd for anyone to suggest that the United States cannot do the same," Sanders said in a statement. "This grossly misleading and biased report is the Koch brothers' response to the growing support in our country for a 'Medicare for all' program." Sanders' office has not done a cost analysis, a spokesman said. However, the Mercatus estimates are within the range of other cost projections for Sanders' 2016 plan.