Fact Check: Buttigieg Claims Sanders Said It Is ‘Impossible’ to Know How Much Medicare for All Will Cost

CLAIM: Pete Buttigieg (D) said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) indicated that it is “impossible” to know how much his health care plan will cost.

VERDICT: True. Sanders said last month the cost is “impossible to predict.”

Pete Buttigieg said during Wednesday’s debate that Sanders’ refusal to release additional medical records is not sufficient but argued that it is more important for the socialist senator to explain how he will pay for his costly Medicare for All proposal.

“Transparency matters, especially living in the Trump era,” Buttigieg said during a discussion on Sanders refusing to release additional medical records.

“I’m actually less concerned about the lack of transparency on Sanders’ personal health than I am about the lack of transparency on how to pay for his health care plan since he said that it’s impossible to even know it will cost,” he said, noting that Sanders said he would raise taxes on people making over $29,000.

Indeed, Sanders admitted during an appearance on CBS Evening News last month that it is “impossible to predict” how much his plan will cost.

As Breitbart News detailed:

O’Donnell then cut in to ask, “You don’t know how much your plan costs?”

Sanders responded, “You don’t know. Nobody knows. This is impossible to predict.”

O’Donnell then queried, “You’re going to propose a plan to the American people, and you’re not going to tell them how much it costs?”

Sanders answered, “Of course I will. Do you know exactly what healthcare costs will be…in the next ten years if we do nothing? It will be a lot more expensive than a Medicare-for-all single-payer system.”

While estimates vary, some experts, such as Mercatus Center scholar Charles Blahous, indicate that Medicare for All could cost up to $60 trillion over the next decade alone.

As Breitbart News reported:

Blahous said that the $32 trillion price tag was too conservative and that given historical spending levels on health care, net new federal spending would likely increase spending by $38.8 trillion over the next ten years and would increase federal healthcare spending to 13 to 15 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Mercatus scholar also noted that the Medicare for All’s total federal spending price over the next ten years would amount to between $54.6 trillion and $60.7 trillion.

Buttigieg is also correct in noting Sanders’ call to raise taxes on Americans making over $29,000.

“Is health care free? No, it is not. So what we do is exempt the first $29,000 of a person’s income. You make less than $29,000, you pay nothing in taxes,” Sanders told late-night host Stephen Colbert in September.

“Above that, in a progressive way with the wealthiest people paying the largest percentage, people do pay more in taxes,” he continued. “But if I say to you, that right now you’re paying $20,000 a year in a tax called a premium for insurance companies. That’s gone.”