Heather N

Federal healthcare spending exceeds $2T annually now, will exceed $3T in the next 5 years and $4T in the next 10 years. That's for 124M covered lives. The private market covers over 220M people and does so far more efficiently (admin costs notwithstanding). Total healthcare costs presently exceed $6T and account for 18% of GDP. It has more than doubled since the passage of the ACA. 90% of hospitals reimbursed at Medicare rates LOSE money and operate in the red. (100% of hospitals run negative margins at Medicaid rates). Many hositals will go out of business - best estimates are 1 of 3 hospitals won't sustain operations and require (wait for it) ADDITIONAL federal money to stay afloat because the federal payer model doesn't begin to cover OPEX much less CAPEX. All that gets funded by debt - of which we presently spend over $1.05T annually just on interest payments. The US military spends $1T presently and this is forecast to grow to $1.2T in the next 5 years. China, by comparison, is spending over $1.9 on its military in 2026, and this is forecast to double in the next ten years. You could cut the entire military budget and still have a healthcare budget shortfall because we have zero accountability for how/what/where spending occurs. This problem only compounds with an open border. All of that spending doesn't magically create more healthcare supply, so you can plan on access issues in spite of the "guarantee" of coverage. (This is exactly what has played out in Canada and GBR btw.) The idea that you can magically improve healthcare coverage, reduce costs and improve outcomes by having the military run bake sales to fund unmanned drone and space based missile defense sounds cartoonishly naive when looking at the hard numbers.