When Medicare was begun, its actual cost turned out to be about seven times as high as the government actuaries had predicted! I don’t expect that magnitude of difference, but I am confident that the proposed health reform plan will cost a great deal more than its proponents claim it will.

BTW people who need care they can’t afford can get care via Medicaid. The government already pays for medical care for poor people. In practice, it’s my understanding that Medicaid patients get rather mediocre care. However, there’s no reason to expect any new system to provide better care than Medicaid does — especially as badly designed a system as is being proposed.