Responding to recent criticism about Bernie Sanders in her book, Hillary Clinton claims that she beat Sanders in a landslide during the 2016 Democrat Presidential primary. Unlike his opponent, Senator Sanders is putting the past behind him and is about to launch yet another campaign promoting his Medicare-For-All health care scheme, touting the tag line "Leave no American behind."  A growing list of like-minded, Democrat/Socialist fellow travelers have jumped on the bandwagon in support of the Sanders plan. Names like Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Corey Booker, and Kamala Harris should be of no surprise to anyone. The Sanders’ scheme promises a broad spectrum of guarantees that all Americans, regardless of income level, socioeconomic status, or age will have immediate and unfettered access to health care with the government simply writing the check. What the Sanders’s plan fails to adequately address is how the government manages all that magical thinking. As Bernie succinctly states, “As a patient, all you need to do is go to the doctor and show your insurance card.”  

In order to better comprehend the scope of the Sanders’ plan and as it applies to the “leaving no American behind” canard, I visited the Sanders’ Medicare for All website. It’s always interesting to read the wistful laments of the one-size-fits-all Socialist theorists; after all, magical thinking and Mr. Sanders are synonymous. In all honesty, at least he acknowledges and then admits the passage of the Affordable Care Act was simply a means to an end:  the goal is to usher in Universal Health Care in America. What follows at the aforementioned website is a plethora of familiar Socialist talking points -- millions of Americans still uninsured, the U.S. spends more on health care per person than any other developed nation, and why can’t the United States be more like the rest of the world?  Fact is, there is no other country in the world like the United States and yet, if Bernie Sanders had his way; by adopting Universal health care, the U.S. would magically fall in line with Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Bernie proclaims all Americans will be healthier for it. And the platitudes don’t stop there.

On his website, Mr. Sanders also claims, “Under Bernie’s plan, Americans will benefit from the freedom and security that comes with finally separating health insurance from employment. That freedom would not only help the American people live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives, but it would also promote innovation and entrepreneurship in every sector of the economy. People would be able to start new businesses, stay home with their children or leave jobs they don’t like knowing that they would still have health care coverage for themselves and their families. Employers could be free to focus on running their business rather than spending countless hours figuring out how to provide health insurance to their employees.” He offers no evidence, statistics, studies, or hard facts to support his claims -- all that freedom, happiness, security, and healthy and fulfilling living simply morphs into being because Bernie said so and therefore, it must true.

And while we’re on the subject of something too good to be true, Mr. Sanders’ website drills down the financial details and in this particular case -- the truth is painfully ugly. In fact, Mr. Sander’s Universal Health care scheme equates to imposing significant increases per individual, employer, and capital gains/investment income taxes.  Prepare to be gut punched; the numbers are staggering.  Reviewing his proposed tax increases (at his website under the heading; The Plan Will Be Fully Paid For), I’m certain that the majority of his supporters are woefully naïve, ignorant or both, and have no idea that Medicare for All means forking over even more hard-earned income to yet another government social program.  Mr. Sanders goes one step further; doubling down on Obama’s misinformed, but much quoted claim that Americans would benefit from a $2500 savings in annual health care insurance premiums. Bernie promises that the typical American working family will enjoy a $5,000 a year savings, but wait -- there’s more! The typical America employer will save over $9,400 a year! That’s right -- according to the Sanders’ plan, “The average annual cost to the employer for a worker with a family who makes $50,000 a year would go from $12,591 to just $3,100.” Of course, there are no citations as to how or by what methodology these numbers were derived -- just more magical thinking. Never forget that it was a whole lot of magical thinking that helped to create Social Security and Medicare. Numerous promises were made; along with fantastic platitudes that were offered up by seemingly well-informed Democrat do-gooders. Fast forward several decades; dyed in the wool Socialist Democrat Bernie Sanders wants gullible Americans to believe that his plan will be the best Socialized health care reinvention plan… ever.