The Right and Blue Dogs fighting against Progressive programs claim taxes to the government will rise substantially not only for the rich but the middle-class. Progressives need an epiphany. They should own that message with a corollary. Taxes to corporations will fall more than tax increases to the government leaving more money in one’s pocket. Let me explain.
I explained this relative to Single-Payer Medicare for all in the blog post titled “Single-Payer Medicare for All will increase taxes, but you should want that (VIDEO).” Everyone who can afford it should have health insurance. If one can afford it and does not and they happen to get sick or get injured, they are covered by us all. Part of the Affordable Care Required one to have insurance either on their own directly or via a penalty. But who were Americans forced to purchase insurance from — private companies. That is a tax.
Now, these private companies to whom Americans pay taxes sole purpose of existence is to make a profit. They profit by denying you coverage. If instead of paying that tax to the private company one pays it to a single-payer, we the people, the government, everyone’s costs fall. Why? I explained in the above blog.
Here is an absolute statement. If one entity is paying our medical bills, it is much more efficient than having multiple companies do it. Let’s say we have 100 health insurance companies. When you add that each company has to have its own executives, a board of directors, advertising budgets, capital costs, computer equipment, accountants, risk managers, and a myriad of other expenses, it illustrates what we actually see, expensive insurance. If there is one payer that covers everybody, Single-Payer Medicare for All, then all of those duplicated costs go away, and some functions are virtually unnecessary.
Private insurance companies also have shareholders. Shareholders demand dividends and ever-expanding stock appreciation at a higher rate than inflation or a higher rate than the expanding economy. That is one reason among many others why health insurance rates increase faster than inflation. This same issue applies to pharmaceutical companies who raise rates not to create better drugs but to ensure better value for their shareholders and corporate bonuses.
If Americans are buying a required service that they cannot live without from a corporation, then that is a tax. Progressives must learn how to redefine messages to counteract the Right. We must do so truthfully but simplified in a manner that every American can easily rationalize.