New bill would allow Medicare buy-in

This would be a giant leap forward. Just another reason to donate to Democratic senators for November:

Two more Democratic senators are introducing a bill that would create a version of Medicare for some working-age Americans, offering yet another sign that government-run insurance will figure prominently into the Democratic Party’s health care agenda going forward.

Sens. Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Chris Murphy (Conn.) plan on Wednesday to introduce the “Choose Medicare Act,” which would launch a new, enhanced version of traditional Medicare. It would be available both to individual consumers buying their own coverage and employers who offer coverage to employees.

It’s possible to imagine Medicare Part E, as Merkley and Murphy propose to call the new program, someday absorbing most working-age people who don’t qualify for Medicaid. If that happened, the American health care system would more closely resemble the kind of “single-payer” system that exists in some countries abroad and many progressives would prefer to have in the United States.

Of course, whether Medicare Part E would really prove as attractive as Merkley and Murphy say ― and precisely what trade-offs the full legislation would entail ― remain very much open questions.

Medicare Part E would include two features of commercial insurance that traditional Medicare, which serves seniors, does not: a limit on out-of-pocket spending and coverage of pediatric services.