Coronavirus - Medicare for All

This article argues that ‘The coronavirus is making the case of Medicare For All even stronger.’ In my opinion the argument is feeble and includes plenty of cherry-picking.

It describes the USA as merely a “for-profit” healthcare system, whereas the USA is already Medicare-for-all-over-age-65 and the majority of hospitals are non-profit. It insinuates that rationed care and waiting lines are symptomatic of a “for-profit” healthcare system, and implicitly assumes rationed care and waiting lines will not be the case if the USA adopts Medicare-for-All. 

Their comparison fails to include Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. Italy and Spain have two of the most Medicare-for-All like systems in the world. Their healthcare spending per capita is much less than Switzerland's or the USA's, like Medicare for All advocates assert it should be. Italy and Spain are doing comparatively poorly dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Based on the Worldometer's latest statistics, Italy’s mortality rate (deaths/cases) is 10.19%. Spain’s is 7.58%. Switzerland has nothing like Medicare. While the government subsidizes its purchase, all health insurance is provided by private insurers. While Switzerland has even more cases per 1,000 population, the mortality rate (deaths/cases) is 1.65%, much less than Italy or Spain. The USA’s is close, 1.52%.

The article lauds South Korea’s and Taiwan’s healthcare systems and cites the low impact of the coronavirus in the two countries. The author uses them as innuendo to assert that it’s because their healthcare systems are instances of Medicare-for-All. In fact South Korea’s is far from it. There is a national health plan. However: “77% of the population have private insurance. This is due to the fact that the national health plan covers at most 60% of each medical bill” (link). 

Taiwan’s healthcare system is more like Medicare-for-All. The mortality rate from COVID-19 is very low, but so is the number of cases per 1,000 population. I can’t explain the latter. See update below. The author asserts the existence of “high traffic with mainland China,” an innuendo that Taiwan's exposure to the coronavirus is as high as, maybe higher than, other countries. Anyway, the healthcare system has not faced a stress test similar to Italy, Spain, Switzerland, or even the USA.

Switching the topic, Bernie Sanders is the most vocal advocate of Medicare for All in the USA. He has also expressed his contempt for billionaires. His world view implicitly takes for granted a fixed supply of goods and services. How that supply comes about doesn't interest him. He has shown no understanding of it. He views billionaires as “profiteers” and greedy hogs of that supply he takes for granted, depriving other people of their “fair share.” He regards the existence of billionaires as a "moral outrage." Contrary to his world view, multi-billionaires Elon Musk and James Dyson are working on producing more ventilators in the battle against the coronavirus. In Bernie’s ideal world, they would not have the money they are pouring into these efforts.

Update 3/27: Fear of China Made Taiwan a Coronavirus Success Story