Connecticut’s insurance industry faces uncertain future under ‘Medicare for All’ bill proposed by Bernie Sanders and backed by Blumenthal
From Hartford Courant, In Print — Apr 11th, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders revived his “Medicare for All” proposal this week, vowing to replace private insurance with a single government-run plan covering all Americans. While Sanders denounced insurers as profiteering, Connecticut’s Sen. Richard Blumenthal stood with him, even as insurers like Aetna and Cigna—major employers in his state—warned against the idea.
Spencer Perlman, managing partner and director of health care research at Veda Partners, said Sanders’ plan would effectively “legislate out of existence” private insurers. He added that the proposal remains politically unrealistic, calling it “the impossible dream.” The costs, estimated in the tens of trillions over a decade, would require “massive tax increases or massive deficit spending,” Perlman warned—an approach he likened to “banana republic type of stuff.”
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