Medicare for All unlikely to cause surge in hospital use, study says

“Medicare for All” is a hot topic of discussion these days. Opponents say it would cause an increase in hospital use and, in turn, health costs, but the authors behind a new study write that “such projections are probably incorrect.” Researchers looked at hospital use before and after Medicare and Medicaid went into effect in 1966, as well as when the Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2014. Each led to about 10% more people gaining insurance, which is what experts expect for a Medicare for All plan. The number of hospital stays and the duration of stays changed very little in the years immediately following the plans’ implementation. Elderly people and those from low-income backgrounds used hospital services more, but those gains were offset by younger people and those with higher-income using health care facilities less.