Illegal immigration will cost taxpayers $2 trillion in Medicare spending in a Kamala Harris Medicare for All system, according to a Tholos Foundation study published Tuesday.
The study discusses the immense strain Harris’s amnesty plan would put on the Medicare system; specifically, under her own Medicare for All proposal.
While Vice President Kamala Harris may pretend she doesn’t support Medicare for All, ATR has compiled several of her passionate statements in support:
Harris was the first Senator to co-sponsor Senator Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All bill. Their proposal goes even further left than most foreign versions of socialized medicine. Canada, for example, has about 30 percent of its healthcare spending coming from the private insurance market. The Sanders-Harris proposal would have none. Harris was clearly passionate about the plan, as she personally authored her own Medicare for All plan during her own presidential run in 2020.
Further, both Harris and VP candidate Tim Walz have come out in support of a pathway to citizenship for the 11 to 12.5 million illegal immigrants (Note: It is our educated opinion that the number of illegal aliens now in the United States exceeds 25 million – D.A. King) now residing in the U.S.
Given the ensuing insolvency of Medicare by 2036, these contentious proposals could prove disastrous, especially if both are accomplished under a Harris-Walz administration.
As the study explains, an estimated 90 percent of illegal immigrants are under 55, meaning that under our current Medicare system, amnesty would significantly increase those covered, costing $163,650 per person over 10 years. In this way, the sum cost of every illegal alien’s first 10 years receiving benefits would be $1.8 trillion.
Additionally, under Medicare for All, amnesty would cost an additional $2 trillion over just the next 10 years. The cost of socialized healthcare is an unimaginable strain, given that the United States is on the brink of a fiscal crisis. The national debt is over $35 trillion, and the U.S. government is on track to spend over $1 trillion on interest payments by the end of this month.
Under Medicare for All, Americans Would Pay an Additional $14.3 Trillion in Taxes
Taxpayers would be on the hook for the additional costs of amnesty. The Medicare for All plan Kamala Harris endorsed as a Senator would increase taxes by $14.3 trillion over the next decade, roughly $26,000 per household per year. This would pay for a fraction of the $44 trillion cost of single payer healthcare.
By Senator Sanders’ own admission, Americans making more than $29,000 per year would pay more in taxes under Medicare For All. Of course, this would violate Kamala Harris’s pledge to not raise any tax on anyone earning less than $400,000.
The list of proposed tax hikes in the Sanders-Harris plan are unfathomable. They include a new 4 percent employee payroll tax, a new 7 percent employer payroll tax, the elimination of health tax expenditures, the elimination of HSAs, a 70 percent top tax bracket for ordinary income/capital gains, a 77 percent death tax, and many more.
Medicare for All Risks Bankrupting the Country if Substantive Policy Reforms are Not Adopted
The Tholos Foundation also cites potential reforms to address immigration, Medicare, and fiscal issues. For example, implementing “a strong federal spending limit, capping annual spending growth at a maximum rate of population growth plus inflation, similar to Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).”
The study also discusses potential work requirements and block grants for social programs:
“Expanding work requirements and block grants to states for government social programs, like Medicaid, would better ensure that native-born and foreign-born recipients contribute economically. Implementing work requirements for these programs would support increased self-sufficiency and reduce dependency on taxpayer-funded programs.”
In addition to visa auction and market-driven immigration reform, the paper discusses the importance of the rule of law and enforcing the border policies we have in place:
“… the economic benefits of immigration must be balanced against the short-term costs and the rule of law. The U.S. is a sovereign country with borders and legal processes for entry and citizenship. While immigration can support more economic growth, it is essential to maintain the integrity of the legal system and avoid incentivizing illegal entry, which undermines the rule of law and imposes costs on taxpayers.”
As Milton Friedman once said, “You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state.”
Both Medicare for All and amnesty would cost taxpayers trillions of dollars. Together, the costs would be devastating – accelerating the Medicare system into ruin. While we must resist these efforts, it is imperative that we implement reforms with sustainable budgets and rule of law in mind.
To read the study in full, click here .
