Medicare-for-All Would Eliminate Most or All of Medicaid, But No One Is Talking About It July 18, 2019 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman explores the large implications of eliminating Medicaid in a Medicare-for-all system—an issue that has not received much attention in the current debate.
The Democratic Debates Suffer from a Nasty Case of Plan-itis August 1, 2019 Perspective In The Washington Post op-ed “The Democratic Debates Suffer from a Nasty Case of Plan-itis,” Drew Altman says the primary debates are not serving voters well by focusing on details of candidates’ health care plans rather than the fundamental differences between them.
Workers Aren’t So Sure “Medicare for All” Would Raise Their Wages September 18, 2019 Perspective Drew Altman’s latest Axios column dives into an issue raised in a Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders exchange. In a Medicare-for-all system employers could reap large savings from not having to provide workers health care coverage, but do workers trust that those savings will be passed to them in higher wages?
Employer-based Coverage is Unaffordable for Low-wage Workers September 26, 2019 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman digs into 2019 data on employer-provided health coverage and explains why employer coverage is often unaffordable for lower wage workers.
Voters Aren’t Buying Trump’s Promises of a Health Care Plan October 14, 2019 Perspective Drew Altman showcases new KFF polling on the public’s views of President Trump’s promise that he will have a “phenomenal” health care plan and protect Medicare, and analyzes what it means for health care politics.
Medicare-for-All’s Popularity May Have Peaked November 6, 2019 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman looks at the polling trend on support for Medicare-for-all suggesting it may have crested as criticism has mounted. He considers what it means for the Democratic primary and continued debate for Medicare-for-all and other expansion proposals.
Democrats Like Medicare-for-All, but Swing Voters Don’t November 19, 2019 Perspective Medicare-for-all is popular with Democrats in battleground states, but not with swing voters. In this Axios column, Drew Altman discusses the implications of the KFF-Cook Political Report poll findings.
Private Insurance’s Costs are Skyrocketing December 16, 2019 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman takes a long-term view of the recently released federal data on health spending showing that spending for private insurance is rising much faster than for Medicare and Medicaid, and predicts rising pressure in the health care industry as a result.
What Iowa and New Hampshire tell us about Medicare-for-All February 14, 2020 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman analyzes data from the New Hampshire exit poll showing that support for Medicare-for-all played a role in the primary while broader support for a more moderate plan may be a signal about the general election.
Even Supporters May Not Understand Medicare-for-All March 2, 2020 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman shows that the majority of supporters don’t know how Medicare-for-all works, with both positive and negative implications for support if they knew more.