Sanders' Medical plan would extend Medicare to cover everyone

Bernie Sanders has issued a brief "white paper" giving his plan for national medical insurance.  He would simply extend Medicare to everyone and add coverage for vision, dental, and nursing home care.  (You may click on Bernie's picture to access the white paper.)

Medical insurance costs for the average family would drop 90% to a maximum of $466/family. 

The simplicity of the program should result in some cost savings.  (He estimates $600 billion a year in savings out of the  $3000 billion currently spent annually.)  Half of the cost of the program would be paid by taxes on workers and their employers and half by soaking the rich through higher income taxes, estate taxes and taxes on investment.

We may argue about how to pay for the plan, but it has the benefits of simplicity and extending coverage to nursing homes.  This would, on the surface, appear good for seniors.  Let's hope some of the mainstream candidates picks up on the best of these ideas while eliminating the eccentricities.