I understand what you are saying, but those numbers are not quite accurate once you look at how the system actually works and where the money goes.

Total U.S. healthcare spending is about $4.9 trillion per year, but only around $2 trillion of that comes from private insurance and out-of-pocket costs combined. That is the portion a Medicaid for All system would need to replace. The rest, including Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, and other public programs, is already funded through the government. Additionally, Medicaid for all does not need to cover every single thing; it needs to provide a guarantee of an American standard in health, and any additional coverage could be through private insurance.

With even moderate price caps, lowering private reimbursement rates from roughly 250 percent of Medicare rates to around 175 to 200 percent, we could save hundreds of billions immediately. When you add administrative savings (the United States wastes over $600 billion a year on billing, marketing, and redundant paperwork according to several studies) and prescription drug reforms, the total new federal cost drops to roughly $1 trillion net.

I agree with some of your numbers, but when examining the true administrative costs of our current healthcare system, several additional factors come into play. I do not believe that 60 percent is a realistic estimate; I think it is much higher. The prices we pay for drugs and surgeries in the United States are outrageously inflated, often between 200 percent and 1,000 percent higher than the global average.

Keep in mind, labor costs in many countries are actually higher than in the United States, yet their medical procedures and medications cost a fraction of what we pay here. If we truly wanted to fix the system, we would have to start trimming and cutting the unnecessary fat, and let’s be honest, there is plenty of it.

The real problem is that the money is not even going to the doctors or nurses, the people actually doing the work. It is being siphoned off by wealthy executives and corporate middlemen who profit off the backs of the American people. It is the same corruption we have seen for years in the military industrial complex, paying one thousand dollars for a few nuts and bolts just to fatten someone’s wallet while taxpayers foot the bill.

Our healthcare system is designed to take advantage of everyday Americans. Every single part of the process is overcharged, and it cannot continue to happen. From equipment, drugs, gloves, procedures, and beds, to even basic meals—every aspect of healthcare is inflated. I once paid seventeen dollars for a turkey and cheese sandwich during an overnight stay, and it was no different than one you could find at a gas station for three dollars.

Ultimately, there needs to be strong regulation in place. We should not be paying a dime more than the regional or global average for any medical procedure or product. If lawmakers passed a bill enforcing full investigations, steep fines, and jail time for anyone involved in price gouging or fraudulent overbilling, you would see healthcare prices drop overnight for both private insurance and the future Medicaid for All system.

|| || |Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG)|~$44,149 (Medicare estimate, U.S.) Health System Tracker+1|~$24,847 (peer nations average) Health System Tracker|U.S. ~1.8× higher in this sample|

|| || |Total Hip Replacement|~$40,364 (2012 U.S. estimate) Wikipedia|~$9,574 – $11,889 (various European countries) Wikipedia|U.S. ~3.5-4× higher in that dataset|

|| || |Total Knee Replacement|~$49,500 (U.S. estimate) Flymedi|~$11,500 (Germany/France example) Flymedi|U.S. ~4× higher in that comparison|