How 'Medicare for All' would affect private insurers: 5 notes

"Medicare for All" proposals to replace private health plans with a government insurance option would overhaul how the current healthcare system functions, according to The New York Times.

Five things to know:

1. At least 500,000 people are employed by the private health insurance industry, and roughly 250 million Americans get their health insurance through private companies.

2. At the same time, the health insurance industry generates about a trillion dollars in revenues, and health insurance stocks make up a large portion of mutual funds that hold retirement savings for millions of Americans. Under Medicare for All, many retirees would find the value of their portfolios fall, according to The New York Times.

3. Medicare for All policies could cost the federal government between $28 trillion and $32 trillion over a decade, according to an analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

4. However, little data is available on the full economic effect such a change could have on jobs, wages, investors, physicians, hospitals and health insurance companies. "Such an undertaking would be difficult, given the vagueness of key parts of the proposals being discussed and the wide-ranging possible effects," according to the The New York Times.

5. Congressional members have introduced proposals to allocate funds to help Americans who would lose their jobs under Medicare for All policies. While the change would significantly lower private insurers' stocks, The New York Times article states because insurers have other lines of business, they'd "most likely survive."

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