August 7th 2019

By Max Gelula

On a recent episode of Fox’s The Five, Jesse Waters went on a diatribe about universal healthcare which could previously have been described as “conservative”, but given the current political landscape should just be considered delusional. 

In this clip from The Majority Report, Sam Seder gives Jesse’s commentary the mocking, and dismissive treatment it deserves. In particular, Sam wonders what things Jesse might have been referring to when he said, “so much great things have been done by Aetna and Blue Cross/Blue Shield”- two of the country’s largest health insurance providers. 

Yes, Medicare for All will result in the termination of employer-provided health insurance. But, we will end up with a system that covers those currently uninsured, and also puts a stop to the ridiculously high cost of healthcare for those who are insured (by, for example, Aetna or Blue Cross/Blue Shield). Jesse says the co-pays under his Fox-provided insurance are $5 - as Sam notes, that is definitely not the case for the average individual with employer-provided health insurance.

The glibness of Waters’ dismissal of the issues with the current state of health insurance - even for those who are “covered” - spotlights his ignorance of what the average person gets out of their “health insurance”. Sam is as knowledgeable as anyone on this issue and he provides a good example of how to deconstruct these kinds of arguments.