Medicare for All’s Teachable Moment

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In just the past two weeks, ten million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance. When the Department of Labor releases its monthly unemployment count for March tomorrow, it could well be two or three times the level for February.

When Americans lose their jobs, they lose their job-provided health insurance, too—that is, if they had job-provided health insurance in the first place. With unemployment clearly rocketing up to levels not seen since the Great Depression, when one in four American workers was unemployed, the number of uninsured Americans will soar correspondingly. Many will seek to enroll in COBRA or through the Affordable Care Act, but since the unemployed will be concentrated in non-union, low-pay service sector jobs, COBRA will be out of reach for most of them, and President Trump has so far refused to re-open the sign-up period for the Affordable Care Act. Even if he did, most of the newly unemployed would not likely be able to afford any but the cheapest plan, with the highest co-pays and deductibles.

All of which is to say that it’s time for mainstream elected Democratic officials—those who have opposed Medicare for All—to rethink their positions. The linkage of health insurance to employment—an accident of American economic history—never made much sense, and when unemployment is pervasive and a pandemic has been loosed on the land, it makes no sense at all.

This is the teachable moment for universal health coverage not linked to employment status. Democrats should seize this moment and teach. For those who have to be dragged screaming to this, they can advocate it as a temporary measure, during which time its popular support would likely only increase.

And Joe Biden—if you’re concerned about winning over Bernie Sanders’s supporters—this message is for you.

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