Research Report The Sanders Single-Payer Health Care Plan: The Effect on National Health Expenditures and Federal and Private Spending
John Holahan, Matthew Buettgens, Lisa Clemans-Cope, Melissa M. Favreault, Linda J. Blumberg, Siyabonga Ndwandwe
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Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders proposed a single-payer system to replace all current health coverage. His system would cover all medically necessary care, including long-term care, without cost-sharing. We estimate that the approach would decrease the uninsured by 28.3 million people in 2017. National health expenditures would increase by $6.6 trillion between 2017 and 2026, while federal expenditures would increase by $32.0 trillion over that period. Sanders’s revenue proposals, intended to finance all health and nonhealth spending he proposed, would raise $15.3 trillion from 2017 to 2026—thus, the proposed taxes are much too low to fully finance his health plan.

On May 10, a typo on page 25 of this report was corrected; "$319.8 trillion" was corrected to read "$319.8 billion."
Research and Evidence Health Policy Tax and Income Supports
Expertise Health Care Coverage, Access, and Affordability Health Care Reform Medicare and Medicaid Taxes and the Economy
Tags Health insurance Federal health care reform Health care delivery and payment Health equity Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program  Private insurance Medicare Long-term services and support