3 ms·

The Iran War spending is staggering but still not enough to cover Medicare for All, even for a single year. Maybe the ENTIRE defense budget would cover it.

toomuchtodo 4mo ago
The US spends ~$1.1T/year on Medicare today. US health care spending is estimated to continue rising and will reach nearly $6T a year by 2027. That means according to the federal government, the US will spend around $42.9T on health care over the next decade if we maintain the status quo. A recent study by Yale epidemiologists found that Medicare for All would save around 68k lives a year while reducing U.S. health care spending by around 13%, or $450B a year. (for comparison, the DoD consumes ~$1T of spending, and debt interest costs ~$867B, annually as of this comment) Citations: https://usafacts.org/answers/how-much-does-medicare-cost-the-federal-government/ https://usafacts.org/answers/how-much-does-medicare-cost-the... https://www.citizen.org/news/fact-check-medicare-for-all-would-save-the-u-s-trillions-public-option-would-leave-millions-uninsured-not-garner-savings/ https://www.citizen.org/news/fact-check-medicare-for-all-wou... https://www.crfb.org/papers/choices-financing-medicare-all https://www.crfb.org/papers/choices-financing-medicare-all https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3106.html https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3106.html https://www.pgpf.org/programs-and-projects/fiscal-policy/monthly-interest-tracker-national-debt/ https://www.pgpf.org/programs-and-projects/fiscal-policy/mon... https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/interest-expense-avg-interest-rates/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/interest-expense-avg-interes...
- jimbokun 4mo ago
  From the cfrb link the cost of Medicare for All would be $2.5T to $3.5T per year. So the entire defense budget would not cover it.
  - toomuchtodo 4mo ago
    > The US spent $2 Trillion dollars on Medicare and Medicaid in 2024 [1][2]. If the US spent this money as efficiently as Japan (or UK [3], ...) it could pay for Healthcare for every single resident with this $2 Trillion dollars. Existing Medicare spending and entire defense budget would cover it. Or reduce debt interest payments and keep defense spending. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48666290 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48666290 (citations)

toomuchtodo 4mo ago

The US spends ~$1.1T/year on Medicare today. US health care spending is estimated to continue rising and will reach nearly $6T a year by 2027. That means according to the federal government, the US will spend around $42.9T on health care over the next decade if we maintain the status quo. A recent study by Yale epidemiologists found that Medicare for All would save around 68k lives a year while reducing U.S. health care spending by around 13%, or $450B a year. (for comparison, the DoD consumes ~$1T of spending, and debt interest costs ~$867B, annually as of this comment) Citations: https://usafacts.org/answers/how-much-does-medicare-cost-the-federal-government/ https://usafacts.org/answers/how-much-does-medicare-cost-the... https://www.citizen.org/news/fact-check-medicare-for-all-would-save-the-u-s-trillions-public-option-would-leave-millions-uninsured-not-garner-savings/ https://www.citizen.org/news/fact-check-medicare-for-all-wou... https://www.crfb.org/papers/choices-financing-medicare-all https://www.crfb.org/papers/choices-financing-medicare-all https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3106.html https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3106.html https://www.pgpf.org/programs-and-projects/fiscal-policy/monthly-interest-tracker-national-debt/ https://www.pgpf.org/programs-and-projects/fiscal-policy/mon... https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/interest-expense-avg-interest-rates/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/interest-expense-avg-interes...

jimbokun 4mo ago
From the cfrb link the cost of Medicare for All would be $2.5T to $3.5T per year. So the entire defense budget would not cover it.
- toomuchtodo 4mo ago
  > The US spent $2 Trillion dollars on Medicare and Medicaid in 2024 [1][2]. If the US spent this money as efficiently as Japan (or UK [3], ...) it could pay for Healthcare for every single resident with this $2 Trillion dollars. Existing Medicare spending and entire defense budget would cover it. Or reduce debt interest payments and keep defense spending. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48666290 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48666290 (citations)