How Sanders Would Pay for Universal Health Care

Bernie Sanders unveiled a single-payer health care plan just before Sunday night's debate that he calls "Medicare for All." He lays it out here, declaring that it's about time health care becomes a guarantee for all Americans, "not a privilege." Some related reading:

• The International Business Times digs into the finances, including the tax hikes that would pay for the $1.4 trillion annual cost: a 2.2% income tax on all Americans, a 6.2% tax on employers, and progressively heavier income-tax rates on the wealthy (from 37% for those with annual income between $250,000 and $500,000 to 52% on households north of $10 million a year).
• CNN has a tangible example for the middle class: "A family of four making $50,000 would pay $466 in new taxes."
• Sanders makes the case to Time that it would save people money on health care costs in the long run.

• The Clinton campaign is skeptical of the numbers, and Hillary Clinton herself took issue with the plan in the debate, reports Politico. Democrats should build on ObamaCare, not "tear it up and start over," she said.
• A post at the liberal Daily Kos thinks Clinton's criticism could be politically costly: "It will tie into the narrative of Hillary Clinton being owned by the corporatocracy."
• The Wall Street Journal notes that Sanders envisions it being administered by the federal government, not the states.
• At Vox, Ezra Klein says what Sanders released isn't actually a plan. "It is, to be generous, a gesture towards a future plan. To be less generous—but perhaps more accurate—this is a document that lets Sanders say he has a plan, but doesn't answer the most important questions about how his plan would work, or what it would mean for most Americans."

(More Bernie Sanders stories.)