Sanders health plan would be more generous than Medicare

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says his plan for a government-run health care system from cradle to grave is like Medicare for all.

Some health care experts see it mainly as a political document to distinguish Sanders' revolutionary ideas from Hillary Clinton's incremental approach.

The campaign estimates it would cost $1.38 trillion a year, paid for with new taxes that would take the place of private health insurance premiums.

Sanders' approach is also called 'single-payer,' because the government would become the steward of the health care system, currently about one-sixth of the economy.

For starters, a government takeover of health care financing would eliminate all the useful signals about value that private payers generate.

A few years ago, it became obvious Medicare had a problem paying for home medical equipment when government officials could find the same items on the Internet for much less.

Altman, the Kaiser foundation president, said it's possible a single-payer system could produce substantial savings, for example by eliminating administrative duplication among insurers.

Back in 2013, the Obama administration famously promised that the president's health care plan would launch on the same day in all 50 states.