Exclusive-Kevin McCarthy: Bernie Sanders’ ‘Gilded’ Medicare for All Leads to ‘Higher Taxes,’ ‘Worse Care’

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) slammed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Thursday in an exclusive comment to Breitbart News, implying the Democratic socialist remains out of touch with the American people on Medicare for All. McCarthy contended that the single-payer proposal would lead to “higher taxes, longer wait times, and worse care.”

Sen. Sanders claimed on CNN Thursday that “a lot of people in the country would be delighted to pay more in taxes” to get Medicare for All.

“Sen. Sanders is not in touch with the majority of America on many issues, but he certainly doesn’t speak for hardworking Americans when it comes to taxes, jobs, or the economy,” McCarthy told Breitbart News. “In fact, most people oppose Sanders’ idea of a government-controlled health care system once they realize what’s behind the Democrat Socialists’ gilded plan: higher taxes, longer wait times, and worse care.”

Despite Sanders’ claim that most Americans would “be delighted to pay more in taxes” to pay for Medicare for All, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that a majority of Americans would oppose Medicare for All if the single-payer plan were to lead to higher taxes, delays in health care, and eliminate health insurance.

A majority of Americans would oppose a Medicare for All proposal if it were to:

• Eliminate private health insurance (58 percent)
• Require most Americans to pay more in taxes (60 percent)
• Harm Medicare (60 percent)
• Lead to delays in medical tests and treatments (70 percent)

Further, Mercatus Center scholar Charles Blahous said during a House Rules Committee hearing on Medicare for All that the single-payer health plan would cost $60 trillion over the next ten years, up to $38.8 trillion of which would amount to net new federal spending. Blahous added that “doubling individual and corporate income taxes would be insufficient to finance even the lower bound” of the $32.6 trillion in new federal spending.

Given the enormous cost of Medicare for All, even Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) expressed concern over the lack of  in Medicare for All during a hearing on Wednesday.

The California Republican contended that Americans continue to benefit from Republican reforms, such as the Trump tax cuts.

“Our economy is on a roll: unemployment is at a 50-year low, optimism among small businesses is at a seven-month high, over 70 percent of Americans believe the economy is in good shape, millions of Americans are still benefitting from the Republican tax reform – the list goes on and on,” Rep. McCarthy continued.

McCarthy then said that Republicans continue to advocate for policies that will protect American freedom, while Democrats only push for more government control.

“Republicans continue to embrace policies that protect freedoms synonymous with the American way of life, while the Democrats’ entire agenda aims to control every aspect of our day-to-day existence. It comes down to the simple notion of control versus freedom,” McCarthy said.