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Opinion: Medicare for all is about trade-offs, not rights and privileges

'Medicare for all' could be revolutionary for the uninsured, but we must first ask tough questions about the trade-offs we are willing to accept and the impact of such a…
Supporters hold signs as Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses the California Nurses Association at a 2017 health care rally about his Medicare for All bill.

Is health care a right or a privilege? That question dominates our thinking about U.S. health policy and often shapes critical political choices. Unfortunately, it also prevents an honest discussion about the trade-offs in health coverage. If you believe health care is a right, how do we pay for universal health care? If you view health care as a privilege, what happens to the millions of uninsured Americans?

Take the Medicare for All bill () introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders. Its primary benefit is universal health coverage without any direct cost in the U.S., whose lack of coverage leads to approximately .

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