There are only a couple of problems with Medicare for all. First, not all providers take Medicare, because it doesn’t pay very well. Typically, these are the most sought-after docs. Second, Medicare doesn’t pay enough even for the docs who participate. Those docs make up for Medicare’s short-changing them by charging private payers more. In other words, Medicare is actually funded by non-Medicare beneficiaries. If there are no non-Medicare beneficiaries, there is no subsidy, and the thing collapses. Have any of the estimates for the cost of M4A taken into account the loss of providers’ revenue (including non-profit hospitals) or the offsetting increase in reimbursement rate?

Sen. Warren is to be commended for her circumspection. It would be arrogant and irresponsible for any mere candidate to come forward with fully-formed plan. The subject is just too complex and politically charged. All any honest pol can say is that he or she is for universal coverage to be provided by whatever combination of methods makes it possible. Sen. Warren is hardly flawless, but on this issue, she is smart not to pretend she has all the answers.