Here are five updates on issues surrounding "Medicare for All" proposals published by Becker's Hospital Review in the past few weeks.
1. On Nov. 18, managed care organizations like UnitedHealth Group and Humana saw their shares rise on new developments that may diminish the chance for Medicare for All being implemented in the near future.
2. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts pledged to use the budget reconciliation process to create a Medicare for All option in her first 100 days in office, using the public option as an on-ramp to a single-payer system, which she plans to implement by the end of her first term.
3. Despite openly disagreeing with Ms. Warren's single-payer healthcare plan, Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi says her numbers check out, and the Democratic presidential candidate's plan is fully financed without adding a new tax on the middle class.
4. Following a commitment by Ms. Warren to introduce Medicare for All legislation by her third year in office, her opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pledged to introduce a bill in the first week of the presidency if elected.
5. Former two-term governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick plans to enter the presidential race. Mr. Patrick's recent comments suggest he supports a public option. He told CNN's Jake Tapper he thinks Medicare for All is "a terrific idea as a sort of shorthand on the basic question of how we get universal care to everybody, and there's more than one way to skin that cat."
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