On Wednesday, July 31, IPI resident scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews joined U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), CMS chief Seema Verma, and an all-star lineup of health policy experts at the Heritage Foundation to discuss what a Medicare for all, single-payer healthcare system would mean for Americans. (Click here for C-SPAN video.)
“Watching this week’s debates, there are two things the Democrats agree on,” said Matthews. “Number one, the current system is an absolute mess— yet nobody seems to point out that system’s Obamacare.”
“And number two, they all agree the goal is a single-payer healthcare system,” he said.
Testifying with Pacific Research Institute’s Sally Pipes and Galen Institute’s Grace-Marie Turner, Matthews easily debunked Democratic presidential hopefuls’ claims of the efficiency and superiority of single-payer healthcare by displaying various British and Canadian news stories reporting what patients endure in those countries. The various headlines shared by Matthews from mainstream media detailed the deadly consequences of government misallocation of health resources, or how rationing of care is necessary to balance the books.
“Bernie Sanders claims Canada has great care, universal coverage, and that they spend half of what we do on healthcare,” said Matthews. “But those are government decisions. It is not because they are more efficient. It is because the government says we will spend this much on healthcare and no more.”
Matthews’ remarks begin at 45:35.