On Saturday, Paul Krugman touted the health care reform platform of the Democratic Party, which promises “that Democrats are united around a commitment to provide every American access to affordable, comprehensive health care.”

Krugman sees this as a rallying cry for universal health care, and even, he hopes, a signaling toward a single-payer system. He points to Medicare as a sign that Americans really are fine with the government providing their health care. He even promotes Medicare as the platform upon which we could build the new system.

But if Medicare is the Democratic Party’s model for our health care system, we are in deep trouble. Medicare is projected to exhaust its trust fund by 2019, leaving future generations a tax burden of $85 trillion, according to Joseph Antos at AEI.

Krugman also highlights the Massachusetts plan as an example of the great success of universal coverage. He gracefully sidesteps the fact that the program went more than $100 million over budget in its first year, and that expected costs for the program next year are $144 million more than anticipated, putting the price tag for the program at $869 million.

Of course, Krugman didn’t even acknowledge the trouble that enrollees in both programs have finding a doctor.

I certainly hope that neither of these programs are a preview of our country’s health care future.