House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) on Friday endorsed efforts to lower the Medicare eligibility age and expand the program, as Democrats try to navigate internal tensions around a progressive push for “Medicare for All.”
During a conference in Denver about the future of the Democratic Party, Jeffries outlined the healthcare legislative priorities Democrats plan to tackle once he takes over as House Speaker in January.
Jeffries said the party must first undo Republican cuts to Medicaid funding and restore the Affordable Care Act’s temporary enhanced premium tax credits that Democrats provided during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While he stopped short of endorsing Medicare for All, Jeffries said Democrats need to go further than merely restoring what Republicans took.
I’m not so sure of that. I’m a full advocate for M4A and I agree lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 50 won’t do that. However, it may do something else.
There are a significant number of 50-64 year old Americans that are still in the workfore because of the cost of healthcare at these ages is so high and they aren’t eligible for Medicare yet. While many in this group are lower income, a sizable chunk are also middle and upper income. This last group are in well compensated jobs that they may not actually need, but they stick around for employer subsidized healthcare (because ACA subsidies have a much smaller income ceiling/cliff).
If this group of Americans could suddenly quit and still have affordable healthcare, that would open up lots of high paying jobs for the younger generation to advance into. So while this “Medicare for 50+” won’t solve the M4A need, it might seriously increase the income of Americans under 50 years old that need it the most.
I started to write the pros and cons of going down that path, but honestly, I think we can skirt getting in the weeds since we both agree M4A is the way to go and ask why are we compromising at all?
I mean seriously. M4A is already very popular and will only become more so if these new Democrats take this mandate and sell it from their newfound podiums. This is not the time to compromise; this is the strongest Democrats have been in decades and will likely be stronger in 2028. We as advocates especially must continue to purify the party and continue holding accountable our own representatives while continuing to persuade those uninformed on M4A.
People are tired of unfairness, and these incremental steps excluding vast swaths of the working class will only piss people off who are excluded. Plus widening the pool to healthier age groups will actually bring down average cost.
The question is, will M4A pass? If it won’t then an incremental improvement is better than nothing. We could have had Carbon Cap-and-Trade decades ago, but we went for the full thing, got nothing and already have climate change.
Also again, while we’re discussing this as addressing healthcare, this move may be a move not to directly affect healthcare costs, but rather affordability for all Americans. If “M450+” becomes law, how many of the highest paying jobs will suddenly open up allowing every rung underneath to move up and increase their pay which directly addresses affordability of everything and not just healthcare?