It's Brian Lehrer, and this is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Thursday,

March 5th. Maybe while the country debates Medicare for All, we should at least have Medicare

for all who have the coronavirus.

We'll start today on the financial implications of getting coronavirus and what the government

is doing and could be doing to make sure everyone who should get tested doesn't avoid any of that

because they can't afford it. That would add to the risk of spread, obviously. And,

of course, the financial implications for people who need to be quarantined or treated could be huge.

With me is Elizabeth Benjamin, Vice President for Health Initiatives at the Community Service

Society of New York, which focuses on public policy that affects lower income people.

Hi, Elizabeth. thanks for coming on.

Thank you for having me on, Brian.

Before the show, I googled Trump, coronavirus, Medicare for All.

And the first two things that came up were a business insider headline from two days ago that said,

Trump administration says it might not cover all coronavirus

health care. And then a Wall Street Journal headline from yesterday that says U.S.

weighs paying hospitals for treating uninsured coronavirus patients. So to start out, what can you tell us about the federal government's role

as of right now in guaranteeing coverage for coronavirus patients? Well, shockingly pathetic, I guess,

would be the characterization. Congress just passed an April. First of all, the Trump administration

has no plans to cover treatment and all they're doing

is eagerly meeting with the pharmaceutical industry to develop a vaccine that they are, and

from the Trump administration's perspective, that vaccine could they could charge whatever

they want for it.

...