Italy Shows That Medicare for All Is No Cure for Coronavirus
Biden pointed out a weakness in claims that single-payer delivers more for less.
Have misericordia.
Photographer: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images
The Democratic presidential race may be pretty much over, but the party’s fight over health care isn’t. “This coronavirus pandemic exposes the incredible weakness and dysfunctionality of our current health-care system,” Senator Bernie Sanders said at Sunday’s debate. Former Vice President Joe Biden replied that Italy’s alarming experience suggested that Medicare for All “would not solve the problem at all.”
Fans of Sanders’s health-care plan are furious about Biden’s comment, and his campaign surrogates have continued to criticize it after the debate. But while Biden isn’t known for rhetorical precision, he got this point exactly right. He didn’t say that Italy’s high death rate shows that Medicare for All won’t work. It shows only that it’s not a solution to this problem.