The Democrats running for president are at it again: they are submitting a completely unrealistic proposal for single-payer health insurance and they aren’t sharing the facts. We must get the word out to everyone that we have to stop this proposal that will take us in a catastrophic direction.

The media, of course, will tell everyone that the public loves the idea of single-payer insurance aka, Medicare for All. Although those running for President have several different plans, none of them would be good for this country. But according to one poll, the public supports the idea :

This month’s KFF Health Tracking Poll continues to find majority support (driven by Democrats and independents) for the federal government doing more to help provide health insurance for more Americans. One way for lawmakers to expand coverage is by broadening the role of public programs. Nearly six in ten (56 percent) favor a national Medicare-for-all plan, but overall net favorability towards such a plan ranges as high as +45 and as low as -44 after people hear common arguments about this proposal.

You can be confident that the Democrats won’t share the shift in support when people learn what single payer will cost them.

When Kamala Harris promoted the idea of eliminating private health insurance, support fell even further:

In the latest survey, when “Medicare for all” supporters were subsequently asked whether they would still back a government health system that eliminated the private insurance market, about 1 in 2 respondents (49 percent) reaffirmed their position, but just over one-fifth — or 22 percent — withdrew their support outright. Another 29 percent said they no longer knew or had no opinion.

So what was the bad news that people were learning?

The first piece of bad news  is the potential cost to taxpayers and cuts to providers:

According to Charles Blahous, a scholar at the Mercatus Center, Sanders’ bill would increase federal spending by at least $32 trillion in the first decade — even as it cut payments to providers to Medicare rates, which are 40 percent below those paid by private insurance. Doubling individual and corporate income tax receipts would not be enough to meet that tab.

More taxes would be inevitable. More doctors would likely close their businesses due to the loss of income.

Finally, waiting times for services would also be coming:

The contention that waiting times for health care services would be longer is the most debatable of the bunch, but given the experience of other countries and the probable design of a full-scale single-payer plan, it’s a more than plausible outcome. Government-run health care systems like the ones in the United Kingdom (which is fully socialized) and Canada (a territorial single-payer system) are notorious for having long wait times for services such as cancer treatment.

You may have heard these arguments before, but the general public has not. Although I doubt the mainstream media is paying attention, we have to use social media to get out the word. Too often we complain that people are not being educated, so our government representatives throw up their hands and relinquish their power when they could make a difference. The Republicans must find a way to put a stop to this potential debacle.

The Democrats are fools but they are not stupid. Rest assured that whoever tries to enact Medicare for All will probably not propose it all at once; they may have learned their lessons from the Affordable Care Act. The proposals will probably be made subtly so that initially no one feels the pain. In fact, we could say that the ACA was already the first step. If we let single-payer be enacted, everyone—the public, the providers and even the government—will feel the pain. Reason.com said, in an understatement:

The imaginary version of Medicare for All that entails no disruption or tradeoffs is popular; the reality is not.

Our legislators must stop complaining and actually make a difference.