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Bernie Sanders on Health Care

Democratic primary challenger; Independent VT Senator; previously Representative (VT-At-Large)

 


Vermont forced to repeal single-payer healthcare system

The Soviet empire was a social and economic failure. North Korea, despite the opulence of its tyrants, is one of the poorest nations in the world. Cuba is so corrupt that its people regularly risk their lives to escape to Florida on rafts. Venezuela was once the richest nation in South America; today, a decade after a Marxist dictator took over, 94 percent of Venezuelans live in poverty. Even socialist Senator Bernie Sanders' home state of Vermont was forced to repeal the state's single-payer health care system just three years after creating it. In every case, socialist elites promised that if only they could direct the economy, everything would be better. Very quickly, everything got worse. In socialist nation after socialist nation, the only way the government could keep its disgruntled people in line was to surveil and terrorize them.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p. 48 , Apr 1, 2023

Debt forgiveness for doctors & nurses in under-served areas

Sen. Amy KLOBUCHAR: We're going to have a million openings for home health care workers, particularly in rural areas, that we don't know how to fill. I have passed the bill that allows doctors from other countries that study in our medical schools to stay and serve in rural areas. We need to expand that.

SANDERS: We put $2 billion into a program which would provide debt forgiveness for doctors, nurses, dentists, we have a major dental affordable crisis in this country, to make sure that they are practicing in underserved areas. The advantage of a Medicare-for-All health care program, because it's not driven by profits for the drug companies and the insurance companies, we will have health care for all people in all parts of this country.

Source: 10th Democratic Primary debate on eve of S.C. primary , Feb 25, 2020

Will increase health benefits for all, in unions or not

Despite spending twice as much as any other major country, we got 87 million who are uninsured or underinsured, over 60,000 people who die every year because they don't get to a doctor on time. We're getting ripped off by the pharmaceutical industry, 500,000 people go bankrupt every year because they can't afford medical bills. So let me be clear to in the Culinary Workers Union. I will never sign a bill that will reduce the health care benefits they have. We will only expand it for them.
Source: 9th Democrat 2020 primary debate, in Las Vegas Nevada , Feb 19, 2020

Medicare for All is already a compromise

My view is that Medicare for All, the bill that we wrote, is in a sense already a compromise.

It is a four-year transition period. All of you know that right now to be eligible for Medicare you've got to be 65. What we do is in the first year, we go from 65 down to 55. Next year, 45. Next year, 35. And then we cover everybody.

Source: CNN Town Hall on eve of 2020 S. C. primary , Feb 18, 2020

Bring America together:end international shame of healthcare

The way you bring people together is by ending the international disgrace of this country being the only major nation on Earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people. You bring people together by telling the pharmaceutical industry they're not going to charge us 10 times more for the same prescription drugs as the people in Canada that borders on New Hampshire. That's how you bring people together and you defeat Donald Trump.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH , Feb 7, 2020

Bring America together:end international shame of healthcare

The way you bring people together is by ending the international disgrace of this country being the only major nation on Earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people. You bring people together by telling the pharmaceutical industry they're not going to charge us 10 times more for the same prescription drugs as the people in Canada that borders on New Hampshire. That's how you bring people together and you defeat Donald Trump.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH , Feb 7, 2020

Help insurance industry employees transition to new jobs

Q: What happens to the jobs of people that live in insurance towns like Des Moines?"

SANDERS: We build in to our Medicare for All program a transition fund of many, many billions of dollars that will provide for up to five years income and health care and job training for those people.

Source: 7th Democrat primary debate, on eve of Iowa caucus , Jan 14, 2020

Current system is not only cruel, it's dysfunctional

Q: Former President Obama said that the country is "less revolutionary than it is interested in improvement. The average American doesn't think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it." Your comments?

SANDERS: Obama is right. We don't have to tear down the system, but people understand the system is not only cruel, it is dysfunctional. How do we have a system in which we spend twice as much as the people of any other country, and yet we've got 87 million uninsured. Five hundred thousand people go bankrupt because of medically related issues. They get cancer, and that's a reason to go bankrupt? We will introduce Medicare for all means no deductibles, no co-payments, no out-of-pocket expenses.

Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta , Nov 20, 2019

Job-based insurance forces people to change providers

SANDERS: Tonight in America, 87 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, but the health care industry made $100 billion in profits last year.

Rep. John DELANEY: We don't have to go around and be the party of subtraction, and telling half the country, who has private health insurance, that their health insurance is illegal. It'll underfund the industry, many hospitals will close, and it's bad policy.

SANDERS: The fact is, tens of millions of people lose their health insurance every single year when they change jobs or their employer changes that insurance. If you want stability in the health care system, if you want a system which gives you freedom of choice with regard to a doctor or a hospital, which is a system which will not bankrupt you, the answer is to get rid of the profiteering of the drug companies and the insurance companies, move to Medicare for all.

Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit) , Jul 30, 2019

Medicare for All: higher taxes but lower healthcare costs

Under Medicare for all, similar to what Canada has, people are not going to pay any premiums. They're not going to pay any deductibles. They are not going to pay any co-payments. I do believe that, in a progressive way, people will have to pay taxes. The wealthy will obviously pay the lion's share of those taxes. People will be paying, in some cases, more in taxes, but, overall, because they're not going to pay premiums, deductibles, co-payments, they will be paying less for their health care.
Source: CNN "SOTU" 2019 on 2020 candidates , Jul 28, 2019

Legalization of assisted suicide should be left to states

Q: Would you support federal legislation to legalize assisted suicide?

SANDERS: That's a very difficult issue. I think that is an issue right now that I am comfortable seeing in the hands of the state. It's a controversial issue. And the fear is, obviously, that it could be taken too far. But I think, probably, it is best dealt with at this point at the state level which is where it is right now.

Source: CNN "SOTU" 2019 interview series , Jun 9, 2019

1970s: For socialized medicine, public drug companies owned

"I believe in socialized medicine, public ownership of the drug companies and placing doctors on salaries. The idea that millionaires can make money by selling poor people drugs that they desperately need for highly inflated prices disgusts me," he said.
Source: CNN KFile, "Nationalization," on 2020 Democratic primary , Mar 14, 2019

Elective procedures can be covered by private insurance

[My proposed] Medicare card will allow them to go to any doctor that they want, to any hospital they want. If they are seniors, we are going to expand Medicare benefits to cover dental care, which is not covered for seniors, hearing aids and eyeglasses. There will be comprehensive health care. Our bill covers all health care needs. All. If people want cosmetic surgery, for example, yes, of course, they can get private insurance. But our bill covers all comprehensive health care needs.
Source: CNN Town Hall on 2020 Democratic presidential primary , Feb 25, 2019

Don't let Republicans do away with preexisting protection

Q: Do you think Democrats have been too weak responding to Republicans on ObamaCare?

SANDERS: You have a Republican leadership in the House and the Senate that tried, came within one vote of throwing 32 million people off of the health insurance they currently have. You have leadership there in the House and the Senate that wants to do away with the preexisting protections that people have in this country. You have a president and Republican leadership who supported a budget which would have cut Medicare by $500 billion.

Q: President Trump argues that Medicare-for-All could lead to worse coverage for many Americans who are happy with their private insurance plan. What do you tell them?

SANDERS: Right now, as a nation, we are spending twice as much per capita on health care as do the people of any other country, $28,000 a year for a family of four. That is unsustainable. 70% of the American people understand that Medicare is a good program, and it should be expanded to all people.

Source: CNN 2018 interviews of 2020 hopefuls , Oct 14, 2018

Impose Medicaid requirements on states

Under the Sanders bill, Medicaid would continue to provide long-term services and supports (LTSS). The bill envisions a four-year phase-in period for implementation. During this time, a transitional public plan option, similar to Medicare, would be offered through the marketplace with enhanced income-related subsidies available.

The Sanders bill would retain Medicaid for purposes of providing long-term services and supports, and would impose requirements on states to maintain eligibility standards and expenditures on long-term services and supports at 2017 levels.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation on 2020 Presidential hopefuls , Oct 9, 2018

Employer-based insurance burdens employers & stifles workers

Our dysfunctional health care system impacts not only patients & medical care professionals, but our entire economy. Given that employer-based insurance is the way most Americans can get their coverage, small- and medium-sized businesses are forced to spend an enormous amount of time and energy determining how they can get the most cost-effective coverage for their employees. It is common for employers to spend weeks every year negotiating with insurance companies. Millions of Americans remain in their jobs today not because they want to be there, not because they enjoy their work, but because their current employer provides decent health care benefits for them and their family.

Think about the extraordinary impact it would have on our economy if all Americans had the freedom to follow their dreams and not worry about whether the family had health insurance. Universal health care would provide a major boon to our economy, unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit of millions of people.

Source: Guide to Political Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 87-90 , Aug 29, 2017

Mental illness system is in tatters; treat like any illness

In our country today, there are thousands of people who are suicidal or homicidal walking the streets. More than half a million Americans with serious mental illnesses are falling through the cracks of a system in tatters. The mentally ill who have nowhere to go and find little sympathy from those around them often land in emergency rooms and county jails, or on city streets.

States looking to save money have pared away community mental health services designed to help people function, as well as the hospitable care available to help them heal after a crisis.

The result is that all too often people with mental illness get no care at all. Nearly 40% of adults with a severe mental illness--such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder--had received no treatment in the previous year.

The time is long overdue to understand that a mental health problem should be treated like any other health-related issue. People must be able to get the mental health treatment they need when they need it.

Source: Guide to Political Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 96-7 , Aug 29, 2017

ObamaCare alternatives need patient protections

Q: Is ObamaCare going to survive?

SANDERS: Nobody thinks that ObamaCare is perfect. It has its problems. But every American has got to recognize, we are the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people. We pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs because the pharmacy, the pharmaceutical industry is out of control ripping us off. So, what sensible people have got to do is not simply repeal the Affordable Care Act without any alternative, but you've got to sit down and say it's OK, what are the problems. How do we address it? How You just don't throw 20 million people off of health insurance. You don't privatize Medicare.

Q: But if that repeal happens, will you support piecemeal, step by step reforms?

SANDERS: Do we make sure that young people stay on their parents' health insurance? Do we make sure that there are no caps if you're dealing with cancer? It goes without saying that those patient protections have got to stay in place.

Source: ABC This Week 2017 interview by George Stephanopoulos , Jan 15, 2017

Lack of affordable dental care is part of healthcare crisis

When people talk about "health care", they are usually referring to a doctor's medical care. But health care is more than that. Largely ignored is the reality that we have a major dental crisis in this country. Tens of millions of Americans are unable to afford the dental care they need. They suffer with painful toothaches. They get teeth extracted because it's cheaper than getting the tooth properly treated, a plight I suffered when I was a young man. Without good teeth, people are unable to properly digest the food they eat, which can lead to other medical problems.

Bad teeth can not only lead to pain and illness, but it has an economic consequence. Try applying for a job when your front teeth are missing and you can't smile. Having bad or missing teeth makes it clear to the world that you are poor, which makes it harder for you to find employment, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty. And for kids, toothaches are one of the major causes of school absenteeism.

Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 329 , Nov 15, 2016

Mental Health: people need more affordable treatments

There is the extraordinary crisis that we face in terms of mental health care. As I traveled around the country, it became clear to me that people were concerned about this issue. Whenever I talked about the need for a revolution in mental health treatments, it would get a strong response. People often knew someone--maybe themselves--struggling with drug addition or a serous mental disorder and unable to find help. The crisis in mental health impacts every area of our lives.
Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 330 , Nov 15, 2016

Mental health coverage would stop suicides AND homicides

All of us want to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have those guns and end this horrible violence that we are seeing. There are thousands of people in this country today who are suicidal, who are homicidal, but can't get the healthcare that they need, the mental healthcare, because they don't have insurance or they're too poor. I believe that everybody in this country who has a mental crisis has got to get mental health counseling immediately.
Source: 2015 CNN Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas , Oct 13, 2015

Move toward a single-payer system

It boggles the mind that approximately 30% of every health care dollar spent in the US goes to administrative costs rather than to delivering care. If our goal is to provide high-quality health care in a cost-effective way, what should we be doing? Clearly, we must move toward a single-payer system.

The health insurance lobby and other opponents of single-payer care make it sound scary. It's not. In fact, a large-scale single-payer system already exists. It's called Medicare. People enrolled in the system give it high marks. More importantly, it has succeeded in providing near-universal coverage to Americans over the age of 65.

Establishing a single-payer system will mean peace of mind for all Americans. The goal of real health care reform must be high-quality, universal coverage in a cost-effective way. We must ensure that the money we put into health coverage goes to the delivery of health care, not to paper-pushing, astronomical profits and lining CEOs' pockets.

Source: 2016 presidential campaign website, BernieSanders.com , Mar 21, 2015

1972: Pushed for dental care for low-income children

In the general election of 1972, I ran for governor of VT. This time, I ended up with only 1% of the vote. However, the issues that I and other Liberty Union candidates raised during that campaign resulted in changes in public policy.

Thomas Salmon, a Democrat, very shrewdly and effectively picked up on 2 issues that the Liberty Union was fighting for: property tax reform and dental care for low-income children. Under the Salmon administration, a popular property tax rebate program was established, as well as a "tooth fairy" program which went a long way toward improving dental care for kids. Despite our paltry 1%, the Liberty Union made an impact on major legislation.

Source: Outsider in the House, by Bernie Sanders, p. 18-9 , Jun 17, 1997


Bernie Sanders on Pandemics

Wrong to give company exclusive rights to drug treatment

Sanders demanded that the Trump administration immediately rescind its decision to grant pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences exclusive rights to the antiviral drug remdesivir, one of many drugs currently being tested as a possible treatment for the novel coronavirus. In a statement, Sanders said it's "truly outrageous that after taxpayers put tens of millions of dollars into developing remdesivir, Trump's [Food and Drug Administration] is exploiting a law reserved for rare diseases to privatize a drug to treat a pandemic virus."

"The Trump administration must rescind this corporate giveaway to Gilead and make any treatment and vaccine free for everybody," added the Vermont senator.

Source: Common Dreams on 2020 presidential hopefuls , Mar 25, 2020

Cover all costs for coronavirus testing and treatment

Q: What's the most important thing you would do on the coronavirus pandemic?

Bernie Sanders: Well, first thing we have got to do, is to shut this president up right now, because he is undermining the doctors and the scientists who are trying to help the American people. It is unacceptable for him to be blabbering with unfactual information which is confusing the general public. Second of all, make sure that every person in this country finally understands that when they get sick with the coronavirus that all payments will be made, that they don't have to worry about coming up with money for testing. They don't have to worry about coming up with money for treatment. We have to make sure that our hospitals have the ventilators that they need, have the IC units that they need. Right now, we have a lack of medical personnel. Bottom line from an economic point of view, say to the American people, if you lose your job, you will be made whole. You're not going to lose income.

Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one) , Mar 15, 2020

We don't have a healthcare system; only thousands of plans

Let's be honest and understand that this coronavirus pandemic exposes the incredible weakness and dysfunctionality of our current healthcare system. I certainly would do this as president. You don't worry, people of America, about the cost of prescription drugs. Do not worry about the cost of the healthcare that you're going to get, because we are a civilized democratic society. Everybody, rich and poor, middle-class, will get the care they need. The drug companies will not rip us off.

One of the reasons that we are unprepared and have been unprepared is we don't have a system. We got thousands of private insurance plans. That is not a system that is prepared to provide healthcare to all people. In a good year without the epidemic, we're losing up to 60,000 people who die every year because they don't get to a doctor on time. It's clearly this crisis is only making a bad situation worse.

Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one) , Mar 15, 2020

International cooperation on coronavirus, and full funding

In the White House today, we have a self-described "great genius"--self-described--and this "great genius" has told us that this Coronavirus is going to end in two months. April is the magical day that this great scientist we have in the White House has determined--I wish I was kidding; that is what he said.

What do we have to do? Whether or not the issue is climate change, which is clearly a global crisis requiring international cooperation, or infectious diseases like Coronavirus, requiring international cooperation, we have to work and expand the World Health Organization.

Obviously, we have to make sure the CDC, the NIH, our infectious departments, are fully funded. This is a global problem. We've got to work with countries all the over the world to solve it.

Source: 10th Democratic Primary debate on eve of S.C. primary , Feb 25, 2020

More money into research for pandemics like coronavirus

Q: What about the coronavirus epidemic?

SANDERS: Well, for start, I would not do what Trump has done and cut funding for those federal agencies which deal with infectious crises. We would put more money into research to make sure that we are best prepared to what I fear may be happening more and more frequently. And we've got to go to the best experts that we can. But we need a global response to this global crisis.

Q: Is cutting off access with China, is that wise?

SANDERS: I don't think you want to cut off access. I think you want to put up protocols to do our best to make sure that we take a look at anybody who is coming into this country, I suspect. But I don't know you have to stop travel from China.

Source: CNN N. H. Town Hall on eve of 2020 N. H. primary , Feb 6, 2020

Vaccinations work; electing not to vaccinate is dangerous

Q: What does Bernie have to say about vaccines?

A: Bernie believes that vaccinations are safe and effective, and that electing not to vaccinate is dangerous and wrong: "I think obviously vaccinations work. Vaccination has worked for many, many years. I am sensitive to the fact that there are some families who disagree but the difficulty is if I have a kid who is suffering from an illness who is subjected to a kid who walks into a room without vaccines that could kill that child and that's wrong."

Source: 2016 grassroots campaign website FeelTheBern.org, "Issues" , Sep 5, 2015


Bernie Sanders on Prescription Drugs

Health care industry last year made $100 billion in profit

Referring to Sanders' universal health care bill in the Senate, Joe Biden said that Bernie "says he wrote the damn thing [but] he's unwilling to tell us what the damn thing's going to cost," Biden said. "How much is it going to cost? Who's going to pay for it? The idea [that] middle class taxes aren't going to go up is just crazy," Biden added.

Sanders responded that the "status quo" offered by Biden will cost even more. "We are spending twice as much per capita as the people of any other country," Sanders told Biden, who was vice president during the passage of the Affordable Care Act championed by President Barack Obama. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the health care industry last year made $100 billion in profit."

Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren favor Medicare for All--a plan that would eliminate private insurers--while the other candidates favor building on the Obama-passed plan with features like a public option.

Source: CNBC.com excerpts of 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate , Feb 8, 2020

End the absurdity of co-payments and $600B corporate costs

SANDERS: Medicare for all ends all premiums, all copayments. It ends the absurdity of deductibles. It ends out-of-pocket expenses. It takes on the pharmaceutical industry, which in some cases charges 10 times more for the same prescription drugs sold abroad as sold here. A Medicare-for-All single-payer program will end the $100 billion a year that the health care industry makes and the $500 billion a year we spend dealing with thousands of separate insurance plans. Health care is a human right.

Sen. Amy KLOBUCHAR: I think it is much better to build on the Affordable Care Act. If you want to be practical and progressive at the same time and have a plan and not a pipedream, you have to show how you're going to pay for it. I think you should show how you're going to pay for things, Bernie. I do.

Source: 7th Democrat primary debate, on eve of Iowa caucus , Jan 14, 2020

No deductibles or co-payments; $200 a year for prescriptions

Q [to V.P. Biden and Sens. Sanders and Warren]: Are single-payer plans such as those by Senators Warren and Sanders pushing too far?

SANDERS: Every study done shows that Medicare for All is the most cost-effective approach to providing health care to every man, woman, and child in this country. I intend to eliminate all out-of-pocket expenses, all deductibles, all co-payments. Nobody in America will pay more than $200 a year for prescription drugs, because we're going to stand up to the greed and corruption and price-fixing of the pharmaceutical industry.

Vice President Joe BIDEN: Anyone who can't afford it gets automatically enrolled in the Medicare-type option we have. But guess what? Of the 160 million people who like their health care now, they can keep it.

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston , Sep 12, 2019

Cap annual costs for prescription drugs at $200

Under Medicare for all, we'll cap what any American pays for prescription drugs at $200 a year. We're going to take on the pharmaceutical industry. The function of health care is not to allow the health care industry, as they did last year, to make $100 billion in profit, while so many of our people are uninsured, underinsured, and paying more than they can afford to pay.
Source: CNN State of the Union interview for 2019 Democratic primary , Aug 25, 2019

Took diabetics to Canada for insulin at 1/10th price

Five minutes away from [Detroit] is a country, it's called Canada. They guarantee health care to every man, woman and child as a human right. They spend half of what we spend. When you end up in a hospital in Canada, you come out with no bill at all. Health care is a human right, not a privilege.

Two days ago, I had a remarkable experience which should tell you everything you need to know about what's going on in America. I took 15 people with diabetes from Detroit a few miles into Canada, and we bought insulin for one-tenth the price being charged by the crooks who run the pharmaceutical industry in America today.

But it's not just the price-fixing and the corruption and the greed of the pharmaceutical industry. It's what's going on in the fossil fuel industry. It's what's going on in Wall Street. We need a mass political movement. Stand up and take on the greed and corruption of the ruling class. Let's create a government and an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%.

Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit) , Jul 30, 2019

Pharma companies should justify high drug prices

Sanders sent a letter to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals asking it to justify its December decision to charge $375,000 annually for a medication that for years had been available for free. The drug, Firdapse, is used to treat Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS), a rare neuromuscular disorder. The disorder affects about one in 100,000 people in the US.

In the letter, Sanders asked Catalyst to lay out the financial and non-financial factors that led the company to set the list price at $375,000, and say how many patients would suffer or die as a result of the price and how much it was paying to purchase or produce the drug. For years, patients have been able to get Firdapse for free from Jacobus Pharmaceuticals, a small New Jersey-based drug company, which offered it through an FDA program called "compassionate use." The program allows patients with rare diseases access to experimental drugs when there is no viable alternative. Catalyst received FDA approval of Firdapse in November.

Source: Yasmeen Abutaleb in Reuters on 2020 Presidential hopefuls , Feb 4, 2019

Negotiate Medicare prices stop outrageous pharma ripoffs

Q: How will healthcare play in the upcoming election?

SANDERS: What you have is a president who promised the American people to provide health care to everybody, and then proceeded to support legislation to throw 32 million people off of health insurance. And most Americans think that health care should be a right of all people. We're moving in exactly the wrong direction. You have a president who campaigned, appropriately enough, on the outrageous ripoffs of the pharmaceutical industry, and he said he was going to take them on. And just the other day, he caved in, of course, and did not go forward in demanding that Medicare negotiate prices with the drug companies or that we allow our pharmacists and distributors to re-import low-cost medicine from abroad. So, I think what the American people perceive is, you have a president who says one thing and does another thing.

Source: CNN 2018 interviews of 2020 hopefuls , May 13, 2018

Medicare should negotiate prices with pharma industry

CRUZ: I would love for us to work together going after big pharma. Right now, it takes $2 billion to approve a new drug. Now, I've introduced legislation to reform the FDA process.

SANDERS: I'm willing to look at it, if you are willing to look at taking on pharma, which is the greediest of many greedy corporate interests. I'm introducing legislation to have Medicare negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical industry. I'm going to introduce legislation to allow Americans to buy less expensive medicine in Canada, the U.K., and other countries. Let's take on the greed of pharma, substantially lower prescription drug prices.

CRUZ: I voted with you in support of allowing drug re-importation. But a much bigger barrier is that, in the last 20 years, the FDA has approved only 3 child cancer drugs, because the burdens are so great.

SANDERS: That is not the major problem. The major problem with the pharmaceutical industry is they could double or triple the prices you pay for medicine tomorrow.

Source: CNN 2017 Town Hall debates: Ted Cruz vs. Bernie Sanders , Feb 7, 2017

1999: Took Vermonters to Canada for low-cost Rx drugs

One of my longtime fights has been against the greed of the pharmaceutical industry, which charges our people, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. In 1999, I became the first member of Congress to take constituents over the Canadian border to purchase low-cost prescription drugs. With tears in their eyes, working-class women, struggling against breast cancer, were able to purchase the same brand-name medicine they were using in Vermont for one-tenth of the price in Montreal. After my trip, many other members of Congress did the same thing. Over the years, millions of Americans have purchased affordable prescription drugs in Canada.
Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 43 , Nov 15, 2016

Focus healthcare on health instead of profits

The United States must join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care to every man, woman, and child through a Medicare for All single-payer system.

It has never made sense to me that our health care system is primarily designed to make huge profits for multibillion-dollar insurance companies, drug companies, hospitals, and medical equipment suppliers. Health care is not a commodity. It is a human right. The goal of a sane health care system should be to keep people well, not to make stock holders rich.

Our current system is the most expensive, bureaucratic, wasteful, and ineffective in the world. While the health care industry makes hundreds of billions a year in profit, tens of millions of Americans have totally inadequate coverage, and many of our people suffer and die unnecessarily.

Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 318-319 , Nov 15, 2016

Don't ignore prescription drug affordability

When we talk about the high cost of health care, we cannot ignore the crisis of the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs. In America, people get much sicker than they should, and sometimes die because they cannot afford the medicine that they need. Sometimes, in order to pay for their medicine, they end up lacking the money they need to provide for other basic needs.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most politically powerful industries in the country and spends endless amounts of money on lobbying and campaign contributions. The pharmaceutical industry has spent more than $3 billion on lobbying since 1998.

This is $1 billion more than the insurance industry, which came in second place in lobbying expenditures.

The pharmaceutical industry, because of its great power, rarely loses legislative fights. It has effectively purchased the Congress, and there are Republican and Democratic leaders who support its every effort.

Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 326-8 , Nov 15, 2016

No country except USA lets drug companies charge any price

Virtually every single day, my office hears from constituents in Vermont and people all over this country who are sick and tired of being ripped off by the pharmaceutical industry- an industry that charges Americans, by far, the highest for prescription drugs.

The reason we pay two times, five times, ten times more for medicine than any other countries do is pretty simple. No other country on earth allows drug companies to charge any price they want for any reason. Somebody in Burlington, Vermont, can walk into a pharmacy and find that the price they pay for the medicine they've been using for years has doubled or tripled. And in the United States, that is perfectly legal. Drug companies can and do raise prices, sometimes in outrageous ways, simply because they can, because the market will bear it.

Source: Where We Go From Here, by Bernie Sanders, p.43-4 , Oct 17, 2016

Combat Big Pharma's greed on drug prices

Millions of seniors, disabled vets and others are struggling with the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs. Americans pay the highest prices in the world for their medicine. Medicare must negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry and that drug companies should not be making billions in profits while one in five Americans are unable to afford the medicine they need. The greed of the drug companies must end.
Source: Speech at 2016 Democratic National Convention , Jul 26, 2016


Bernie Sanders on Universal Coverage

Push for "Medicare for All" in context of coronavirus

Sanders suspended his presidential bid. acknowledging that he no longer had a viable path to the nomination and he vowed to push issues he had campaigned on, including committing to push for "Medicare for All" as the coronavirus leads to massive layoffs.

Sanders said that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic had hastened his decision to suspend his campaign, saying that continuing his presidential bid would only distract from efforts to combat the outbreak and damage it has done to the U.S. economy.

Sanders vowed to push forward with Medicare for All, saying the coronavirus is leading "millions" of laid off Americans to lose their health insurance. "In terms of health care, this current, horrific crisis that we are now in has exposed for all to see how absurd our current employer-based health insurance system is," he said. "We have always believed that health care must be considered as a human right, not an employee benefit, and we are right."

Source: The Hill on cancellation of 12th Democratic primary debate , Apr 8, 2020

We need a simple system, which exists in Canada

Joe Biden: I laid out in the plan that I laid out for how we would deal with this crisis. Nobody, nobody will pay for anything having to do with the crisis. This is a national emergency.

Bernie Sanders: Last year at least 30,000 people died in America because they didn't get healthcare when they should, because we don't have universal coverage. I think that's a crisis. One out of five people in America cannot afford the prescription drugs they need. They suffer. Some die. I consider that a crisis. Bottom line is we need a simple system, which exists in Canada, exists in countries all over the world, and that is if you are an American, you get the healthcare you need, end of discussion.

Source: 11th Democratic primary debate (Biden-Sanders one-on-one) , Mar 15, 2020

Medicare-for-All will save Americans $450B per year

Q: [to Senator Sanders]: You've proposed more than $50 trillion in new spending. You've said Medicare for all will cost $30 trillion.

Bernie SANDERS: Over a 10-year period.

Q: But you can only explain how you'll pay for just about half of that. Can you do the math for the rest of us?

SANDERS: How many hours do you have? A new study that just came out of Yale University, published in Lancet magazine, said Medicare-for-All will lower health care costs in this country by $450 billion a year and save 68,000 lives of people who otherwise would have died. One of the options in our plan is a 7.5% payroll tax on employers, which will save them substantial sums of money.

Q: Senator Klobuchar, does the math add up?

Amy KLOBUCHAR: No, the math does not add up. [Sanders' figures miss] nearly $60 trillion. The Medicare-for-All plan alone on page eight clearly says that it will kick 149 million Americans off their current health insurance in four years.

Source: 10th Democratic Primary debate on eve of S.C. primary , Feb 25, 2020

FactCheck: US pays twice OECD average, but not every country

Citing high health care costs, Sanders said, "We are spending twice as much per capita on health care as do the people of any other country." He has made some version of this claim since at least 2015. It's still not true.

According to the most recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data, which is for 2018, US per capita spending on health care totaled $10,586. That's twice as much as every country, except for six. Sanders is correct that the U.S. spends a lot more than other nations. It spends more than double the $3,992 average for OECD countries ["OECD counties" means "the developed world," excluding developing countries -- ed.]. But Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Denmark all pay a little more than half of what the U.S. does.

Source: FactCheck.org on 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate , Feb 8, 2020

Every president since FDR has tried to fix healthcare

Q: I'm drawn to your plan for universal health care, but I'm skeptical, since I have been hearing about universal health care from every political candidate I have voted for. What makes your plan different and able to become a reality?

SANDERS: Americans have been hearing about it for a lot longer than you have been alive. Teddy Roosevelt, way back when, over 100 years ago, talked about universal health care. FDR talked about it in the '30s and '40s. Truman and Johnson talked about it. Obama talked about it, and Carter; Nixon even talked about it. But what has been the problem all of this time? The problem is, at the end of the day, if we want universal health care, if we want to do what every other major country on Earth does--this is not a radical idea. I live 50 miles away from the Canadian border. They do it. Everybody has health care. You don't take out your wallet or your credit card when you go to the doctor or the hospital. They spend one-half as much per capita as we spend.

Source: CNN N. H. Town Hall on eve of 2020 N. H. primary , Feb 6, 2020

Medicare-for-All saves money to offset raising taxes

SANDERS: Medicare For All will cost substantially less than the status quo. Medicare For All will end the absurdity of paying the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs and health care, while we have 87 million uninsured and underinsured. Under Medicare For All, one of the provisions we have to pay for it is a 4 percent tax on income, exempting the first $29,000. So the average family in America that makes $60,000 would pay $1,200 a year, compared to that family paying $12,000 a year.

V.P. Joe BIDEN: I think we need to tell voters what it's going to cost. A 4 percent tax on income over $24,000 doesn't even come close to paying for between $30 trillion, and some estimates as high as $40 trillion over 10 years. That's doubling the entire federal budget per year. The way to do it is to take ObamaCare, rebuild it, provide a public option, allow Medicare for those folks who want it, and reduce the cost of drug prices. That costs $740 billion over 10 years. I lay out how I'd pay for t

Source: 7th Democrat primary debate, on eve of Iowa caucus , Jan 14, 2020

Medicare-for-all costs average family $1200 instead of $12K

Sen. Bernie Sanders [to V.P. Biden]: Joe, you asked me how are we going to pay for [my healthcare plan]? Under your plan, I'll tell you how we're paying for right now. The average worker in America, their family makes $60,000 a year. That family is now paying $12,000 a year for health care--20% of their income. Under Medicare-for-all that family will be paying $1,200 a year.

Joe Biden: [Sen. Sanders' healthcare plan] costs $30 trillion over 10 years. The idea that you're going to be able to save that person making $60,000 a year on Medicare for all is preposterous. You're going to add 84% more and it's not going to be higher taxes? It's going to increase personal taxes.

Sanders: That's right. We got to increase personal taxes, but we're eliminating premiums, we're eliminating copayments, we're eliminating deductibles, we're eliminating all out of pocket expenses and no family in America will spend more than $200 a year on prescription drugs.

Source: Newshour/Politico/PBS December Democratic primary debate , Dec 19, 2019

Taxes will go up with Medicare for All, most will pay less

Q: Will you raise taxes on the middle class to pay for Medicare for All?

Sen. Elizabeth WARREN: Costs will go up for the wealthy & for big corporations. For hardworking, middle class families, costs will go down. It is about what kinds of costs middle class families are going to face. So let me be clear on this. I will not sign a bill into law that does not lower costs for middle class families.

SANDERS: On the Medicare for All bill, premiums are gone, co-payments are gone, deductible All out of pocket expenses are gone. The overwhelming majority of people will save money on their healthcare bills. But I think it is appropriate to acknowledge that taxes will go up. They're going to go up significantly for the wealthy and for virtually everybody, the tax increase they pay will be substantially less, substantially less than what they were paying for premiums and out of pocket expenses.

Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate , Oct 15, 2019

We lose 30,000 people a year due to not going to the doctor

Q: Of all of your ambitious plans--free public college, Medicare-for-all, eliminating student debt, Green New Deal--

SANDERS: Keep going. You're doing great!

Q: What is the priority on climate change compared to all these others, if you have to choose?

SANDERS: Well, I have the radical idea that a sane Congress can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. And, you know, there are so many crises that are out there today. I worry very much that we lose 30,000 people a year because they don't have the money to go to a doctor when they should and that 87 million people are uninsured or underinsured. And I will implement as president a Medicare-for-all single-payer program. So to my mind, it's not prioritizing this over that. It is finally having a government which represents working families and the middle class rather than wealthy campaign contributors. And when you do that, then things fall in place.

Source: CNN Climate Crisis Town Hall marathon (10 Democrats) , Sep 4, 2019

Get rid of all for-profit health insurance companies

Q: Your opening statement?

DELANEY: We [should not] go down the road that Senator Sanders wants to take us, which is with bad policies like Medicare for all.

Q [to Sanders]: He previously has called Medicare-for-All "political suicide that will just get President Trump re-elected." What do you say to Congressman Delaney about whether it's "bad policy"?

SANDERS: You're wrong. Right now, we have a dysfunctional health care system: 87 million uninsured or underinsured; 500,000 Americans every year going bankrupt because of medical bills.

DELANEY: We can create a universal health care system [without] telling half the country that their health insurance is illegal.

SANDERS: Tens of millions of people lose their health insurance every single year when they change jobs. If you want stability in the health care system, if you want a system which gives you freedom of choice, a system which will not bankrupt you, the answer is to get rid of the profiteering of the drug companies.

Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit) , Jul 30, 2019

Comprehensive care including dental, hearing aids, & eyecare

Rep. Tim RYAN: This Medicare-for-All plan that's being offered by Senator Sanders will tell Union members that they're going to lose their healthcare because Washington's going to come in and tell them they got a better plan.

SANDERS: It will be better because Medicare-for-all is comprehensive -- it covers all healthcare needs. For senior citizens it will finally include dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses.

Rep. Tim RYAN: But you don't know that, Bernie.

SANDERS: I do know it; I wrote the damn bill. And many of our union brothers and sisters are now paying high deductibles and copayments when we do Medicare for all, instead of having the company putting money in to healthcare, they can get decent wage increases, which they're not getting today.

RYAN: Senator Sanders does not know all of the union contracts--the only thing they have is possibly really good healthcare. And the Democratic message is going to be, "we're going to take it and we're going to do better."

Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit) , Jul 30, 2019

This is not radical; virtually every other country does it

Gov. John HICKENLOOPER: If we're going to force Americans to make these radical changes, they're not going to go along.

SANDERS: Please don't tell me that in a four year period we cannot go from 65 down to 55, to 45, to 35 -- this is not radical. This is what virtually every other country on Earth runs. We are the odd dog out.

Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit) , Jul 30, 2019

Healthcare as a human right includes immigrants

Rep. Tim Ryan: Everyone else in America is paying for their healthcare. I don't think it's a stretch for us to ask undocumented people in the country to also pay for healthcare.

SANDERS: I happen to believe that when I talk about healthcare as a human right that applies to all people in this country, and under a Medicare for All single payer system, we could afford to do that.

Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit) , Jul 30, 2019

People will spend less money on Medicare for All

It's not a question of paying more taxes or not, it's a question of not paying any premiums. Let's say you're self-employed and you're spending $15,000 or $20,000 a year on out-of-pocket expenses, premiums and so forth. And I said, you're going to pay $7,000 or $8,000 more in taxes but you're not going to have to pay your premiums. You're probably going to say where can I sign up? People are going to spend less on Medicare for All.
Source: ABC This Week 2019 interview series , Jun 30, 2019

Canada has figured out single-payer, at half the cost of US

Q: You basically want to scrap the private health insurance system as we know it and replace it with a government-run plan. None of the states that have tried something like that--CA, VT, NY--have been successful. If politicians can't make it work in those states, how would you implement it on a national level?

SANDERS: Every other major country on Earth, including my neighbor 50 miles north of me, Canada, somehow has figured out a way to provide health care to every man, woman, and child, and in most cases, they're spending 50% per capita of what we are spending.

Q: How do you implement it on a national level, given the fact that other states have not succeeded?

SANDERS: We'll do it the way real change has always taken place. We will have Medicare-for-All when tens of millions of people are prepared to stand up and tell the insurance companies and the drug companies that their day is gone, that health care is a human right, not something to make huge profits off of.

Source: June Democratic Primary debate (second night in Miami) , Jun 27, 2019

Medicare is most popular health insurance so let's expand it

Q: Senator Bennet, you want to keep the system that we have in place with ObamaCare [instead of Bernie's single-payer system]. Why?

Sen. Mike BENNET: Bernie has said over and over again that this [single-payer Medicare-for-All plan] will make illegal all insurance except cosmetic--I guess that's for plastic surgery. Everything else is banned under the Medicare-for-all proposal.

Sen. Bernie SANDERS: You know, Mike, Medicare is the most popular health insurance program in the country.

BENNET: I agree.

SANDERS: People don't like their private insurance companies. They like their doctors and hospitals. Under our plan people go to any doctor they want, any hospital they want. We will substantially lower the cost of health care in this country because we'll stop the greed of the insurance companies. On this issue we have to think about how this affects real people.

Source: June Democratic Primary debate (second night in Miami) , Jun 27, 2019

Medicare-for-All will lead to stability, not disruption

Every time somebody loses their job, every some -- every time some employer changes health insurance policy, there is disruption. That impacts tens of millions of people. When you have Medicare for all, you will finally have stability. Everybody in the country will have comprehensive healthcare, covering all basic healthcare needs. We will save taxpayers, we will save the citizens of this country, on healthcare, substantial sums of money.
Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview of 2020 presidential hopefuls , May 19, 2019

Single payer will transform health care for the better

Over a four-year period we're going to transform our health care system. First year, we go from 65 years of age for eligibility to Medicare down to 55, and we cover all of the kids in the country. And, despite what President Trump says, we expand benefits for senior citizens. Medicare doesn't cover dental care. It doesn't cover eyeglasses. It doesn't cover hearing aids. We do that. Health care is a human right, not a privilege, and the best way is through a single-payer program.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back , Apr 22, 2019

Medicare-for-all: no more private insurance plans

Senator Sanders reintroduced a "Medicare-for-all" bill, the idea that fueled his 2016 presidential run. As with its previous iterations, Sanders' latest bill would establish a national, single-payer Medicare system with vastly expanded benefits. Sanders' plan would also prohibit private plans from competing with Medicare and would eliminate cost-sharing. New in this version is a universal provision for long-term care in home and community settings.

But many of the candidates--even official "Medicare-for-all" co-sponsors--are at the same time edging toward a more incremental approach, called "Medicare for America." This proposed Medicare for America system would guarantee universal coverage, but leave job-based insurance available for those who want it. Unlike "Medicare-for-all," though, it would preserve premiums and deductibles, so beneficiaries would still have to pay some costs out-of-pocket.

Source: NPR, "Medicare-For-All," on 2020 Democratic primary , Apr 11, 2019

State-by-state Medicaid expansion is a major step

As Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly urges lawmakers to expand Medicaid, Senate President Susan Wagle said, "The governor just called for the Senate to pass a bill that Bernie Sanders--a socialist--endorsed. And that's not going to happen in the Kansas Senate." Kelly, who has made expansion her signature issue, said in the expansion debate the term "study" has come to mean "stall."

The House vote to approve expansion in March attracted national attention. Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, called it a "major step." But since then, the Senate hasn't taken action on the legislation.

If Kansas increases eligibility in the program, which provides health coverage to low-income individuals and individuals with disabilities, to 138% of the federal poverty level, then the federal government will pay for 90% of the cost. For a family of four, that's $35,535 a year. The state's share of the cost of expansion has been estimated at somewhere between $34 million and $47 million a year.

Source: Wichita Eagle, "Medicaid," on 2020 Democratic primary , Apr 2, 2019

ObamaCare requires insurers to cover you, even at a loss

Q: What should happen with health care in America?

CRUZ: Bernie and the Democrats want government to control health care. I trust you. And I trust your doctors. I think health care works better when you're in charge of your family's health care decisions.

SANDERS: The Republicans are now in a panic, because the American people have caught on that the absolute repeal of ObamaCare without a plan to make it better, would be an absolute disaster. So when Ted talks about giving people choice, here's your choice. You got cancer, and you go to the doctor, and the insurance company says, "We're not going to cover it. We can't make money on you because you have cancer. You have a pre-existing condition." And here's another choice you can have if we get rid of ObamaCare. If you have diabetes, and you're spending a whole lot, the insurance companies will say, "sorry, we're only going to spend X dollars, because we've got to make money off you." That's the function of private insurance.

Source: CNN 2017 Town Hall debates: Ted Cruz vs. Bernie Sanders , Feb 7, 2017

ObamaCare insured 20 million, but didn't go far enough

My position on health care has been clear to the people of Vermont and America for a very long time. To me, health care is a human right, not a privilege. I believe our nation needs to end the international embarrassment of being the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care for all in a cost-effective way. That's why I have been a longtime supporter of Medicare for All, single-payer program.

I voted for the Affordable Care Act because, while it did not go anywhere near as far as I wanted, it did provide health insurance for about 20 million more Americans, ended the abomination of people being denied insurance coverage because of preexisting conditions, expanded primary health care, and significantly improved health care coverage for women.

Source: Where We Go From Here, by Bernie Sanders, p.57-8 , Jan 15, 2017

Real issue is healthcare at all, for rural poor

In Mississippi I learned why health care must be a right of all people, and that must happen as soon as possible. I met with a group of African-American health care workers in the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center in Jackson MS. They described the dismal health care conditions for poor people in that state and how there were entire counties there that had NO doctors. Think about it: In the USA, entire counties that have no doctors.

In Mississippi, it also turned out that many people, despite being poor, were ineligible for Medicaid because of stringent and unfair state requirements. My Republican colleagues in Congress tell me, over and over again, that we have the "greatest" health care system in the world. Really? In Mississippi, and in many other areas of the country, there are counties in low-income areas where thousands of people have no health insurance at all and, for those who do, there is no access to medical care at all. That system doesn't sound so "great" to me.

Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 57-8 , Nov 15, 2016

Federally-run single-payer program with mental/dental

A federally administered single-payer health care program means comprehensive coverage for all Americans. This plan will cover the entire continuum of health care, from inpatient to outpatient care; preventive to emergency care; primary to specialty care, including long-term and palliative care; vision, hearing, and oral health care; mental health and substance abuse services; as well as prescription medications, medical equipment, supplies, diagnostics, and treatments. Patients will be able to choose a health care provider without worrying about whether that provider is in-network and will be able to get the care they need without having to read any fine print or trying to figure out how they can afford the out-of-pocket costs.
Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 334 , Nov 15, 2016

$12B more for Federally Qualified Health Centers

I have long been a champion of seeing the government create a strong primary health care system so that every American, regardless of income, can visit a doctor whenever he or she needs to. The best vehicle for doing so was a major expansion of the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) program. In Vermont, almost one out of every four people now gets their primary health care, dental care, and mental health counseling at a community health center. I talked often with Harry Reid, the majority leader, about the importance of community health centers, and how they were working effectively in Vermont as well as in his own state of Nevada.

I will never forget the day Reid called me into his office and told me that he was putting $12 billion more into the program, asd part of the Affordable Care Act, the largest expansion in FQHC history. As a result, many millions more Americans have been able to access the health care they need.

Source: Where We Go From Here, by Bernie Sanders, p.51-2 , Feb 26, 2016

For $500 more taxes, everyone gets $5,000 more healthcare

Hillary CLINTON: Last week in a CNN town hall, the Senator told a questioner that the questioner would spend about $500 dollars in taxes to get about $5,000 dollars in healthcare. Every progressive economist who has analyzed that says that the numbers don't add up, and that's a promise that cannot be kept

SANDERS: 29 million people have no health insurance today in America. We pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. One out of five Americans can't even afford the prescriptions their doctors are writing. Millions of people have high deductibles and co-payments. I don't know what economists Secretary Clinton is talking to, but what I have said, is that the family right in the middle of the economy would pay $500 dollars more in taxes, and get a reduction in their healthcare costs of $5,000 dollars. In my view healthcare is a right of all people, not a privilege, and I will fight for that.

Source: 2016 PBS Democratic debate in Wisconsin , Feb 11, 2016

US is the only major country without universal health care

CLINTON: We share the goal of universal health care coverage. But I think the people deserve to know how this would work. If it's Medicare for all, then you no longer have the Affordable Care Act, because the Affordable Care Act is based on the insurance system. So if you're having single-payer, you need to level with people about what they will have at the end of the process. Based on every analysis I can find, the numbers don't add up, and many people will be worse off than they are now.

SANDERS: There is one major country that does not guarantee health care to all people. There is one major country--the United States--which ends up spending almost three times per capita what they do in the U.K. guaranteeing health care to all people, 50 percent more than they do in France guaranteeing health care to all people, far more than our Canadian neighbors, who guarantee health care to all people.

Source: 2016 PBS Democratic debate in Wisconsin , Feb 11, 2016

Other countries cover everyone; why can't we?

Q: Secretary Clinton, you said of Senator Sanders that "It's very hard to see how any of his proposals could ever be achievable."

CLINTON: Senator Sanders and I share big progressive goals. I've been fighting for universal healthcare for many years, and we're now on the path to achieving it. I don't want us to start over again. I want to build on the progress we've made; got from 90 percent coverage to 100 percent coverage. I don't want to rip away the security that people finally have; 18 million people now have healthcare; pre-existing conditions are no longer a barrier.

SANDERS: Let's deal with the comments that Secretary Clinton made. Every major country has managed to provide healthcare to all people and they are spending significantly less per capita than we are. I do not accept that the US can't do that. I do not accept that the US can't stand up to the rip-offs of the pharmaceutical industry which charge us the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

Source: MSNBC Democratic primary debate in New Hampshire , Feb 4, 2016

Health care for 29 million more uninsured

CLINTON: The Republicans want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I want to improve it. Senator Sanders wants us to start all over again. This was a major achievement of President Obama. It is helping people right now. I am not going to have us plunge back into a contentious national debate that has very little chance of succeeding. Let's make the Affordable Care Act work for everybody.

SANDERS: I am on the Health Education Labor Committee. That committee wrote the Affordable Care Act. The idea I would dismantle health care while we're waiting to pass a Medicare-for-all is not accurate. The Affordable Care Act has clearly, as Secretary Clinton said, done a lot of good things, but, what it has not done is dealt with the fact we have 29 million people today who have zero health insurance, we have even more who are underinsured with large deductibles and co-payments and prescription drug prices are off the wall. So I do believe that in the future, we should have health care for all.

Source: MSNBC Democratic primary debate in New Hampshire , Feb 4, 2016

Medicare for All: insure 29M people beyond ObamaCare

Q: You have branded your single payer health program as "Medicare for All", Why would people support your program with ongoing Medicare problems?

SANDERS: I think people will support my Medicare-for-All program because the United States today is the only major country on Earth that doesn't guarantee health care to all people as a right. I think the Affordable Care Act has done a lot of good things. But yet we have 29 million people without any health insurance. There are seniors today who cannot afford the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs because in America, we pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Last year, while one out of five Americans cannot afford the prescriptions their doctors write, the three major drug companies made $45 billion in profit because they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions. I believe, as a principle, everybody should be entitled to health care as a right, comprehensive health care.

Source: 2016 CNN Town Hall Democratic presidential primary debate , Jan 25, 2016

Single payer: Increased taxes offset by insurance cuts

Q: The criticism is that to pay for your single-payer healthcare, you're asking for one of the biggest tax hikes in history.

SANDERS: But that is an unfair criticism for the following reason. If you are paying now $10,000 a year to a private health insurance company and I say to you, hypothetically, you're going to pay $5,000 more in taxes, but you're not going to pay any more private health insurance, are you going to be complaining about the fact that I've saved you $5,000 in your total bills? So it's demagogic to say "oh, you're paying more in taxes." We are going to eliminate private health insurance premiums and payments not only for individuals, but for businesses, as well. We are the only country on Earth that allows private insurance companies to rip us off. We spend three times more than the British. We can do better than we're doing right now.

Q: But just to be clear, you are going to raise taxes to do this?

SANDERS: Yes, we will raise taxes, yes, we will.

Source: 2016 CNN Town Hall Democratic presidential primary debate , Jan 25, 2016

I helped write ObamaCare; extend it to 29M more uninsured

Q [to Clinton]: You said that Sen. Sanders would tear up ObamaCare and replace it. Is that fair?

CLINTON: The Democratic Party worked since Harry Truman to get the Affordable Care Act passed. I don't want see us start over again with a contentious debate. I want us to defend and build on the Affordable Care Act & improve it.

SANDERS: Her campaign was saying "Sanders wants to end Medicare." That is nonsense. I'm on the committee that wrote the Affordable Care Act. What a Medicare-for-all program does is finally provide in this country health care for every man, woman and child as a right. Now, the truth is: FDR and Truman, do you know what they believed in? They believed that health care should be available to all of our people. What we have to deal with is the fact that 29 million people still have no health insurance. My proposal: provide health care to all people, get private insurance out of health insurance, lower the cost of health care for middle class families by $5,000.

Source: 2016 NBC Democratic debate , Jan 17, 2016

The middle class will pay less with single payer health plan

CLINTON; Senator Sanders' commitment to really changing systems: free college, a single payer system for health, and it's been estimated we're looking at 18 to $20 trillion, about a 40 percent increase in the federal budget. I have looked at his plans for health care, and it really does transfer every bit of our health care system including private health care, to the states. I think we've got to be really thoughtful about how we're going to afford what he proposed.

SANDERS: Secretary Clinton is wrong. You know that the US per capita pays far more than other country. It is unfair simply to say how much more the program will cost without making sure that people know that we are doing away with cost of private insurance and that the middle class will be paying substantially less for health care on the single payer.

CLINTON: Your proposal is to go and send the health care system to the state. And my analysis is that you are going to get more taxes out of middle class families.

Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H. , Dec 19, 2015

We spend more on care than countries with single-payer

Not only are deductibles rising, 29 million still have no health insurance and millions can't afford to go to the doctor.. Why is it that the US is the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all people? This ties into campaign finance reform. The insurance companies, the drug companies are bribing the s Congress. We need to pass a Medicare for all single payer system. It will lower the cost of health care for a middle-class family by thousands of dollars a year.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H. , Dec 19, 2015

Healthcare is a fundamental right in a civilized society

Q: If you get the nomination, the argument that you're promising health care for all and free college will be used against you; that you're just offering a bunch of free stuff. It's unrealistic. What is your reaction?

SANDERS: I happen to believe that in a democratic, civilized society, all people should be entitled to health care as a right. Is this a radical idea? No, it's not. Every other major industrialized country on Earth does the same.

Source: CBS Face the Nation 2015 interview by Bob Schieffer , Sep 27, 2015

Medicare for all: healthcare is a human right

Bernie believes that the challenges facing the American healthcare system need to be addressed immediately--they are a matter of life and death. He has always believed that healthcare is a human right and should be guaranteed to all Americans regardless of wealth or income. He prizes the health and wellness of individuals over corporate profits. Additionally, he supports future legislation to curb drug costs and tackle fraud in the industry. Altogether, universal healthcare serves as a strong foundation for his policy goals.
Source: 2016 grassroots campaign website FeelTheBern.org, "Issues" , Sep 5, 2015

U.S. is only major country without guaranteed healthcare

Q: You favor a single-payer health care system. But that has, in effect, fizzled in your home state. When single-payer would have meant 11.5% increase in taxes on all businesses, and a 9.55 tax hike on individuals, the Democratic governor in Vermont dropped the plan as unfeasible. They said, "we just can't afford the single-payer."

SANDERS: The U.S. remains the only major country on earth that doesn't guarantee health care to all of our people. And yet we are spending almost twice as much per capita. We have a massively dysfunctional health care system. And I do believe in a Medicare-for-all single-payer system, whether a small state like Vermont can lead the nation, which I certainly hope we will, or whether it's California or some other state. At the end of the day, we need a cost-effective, high-quality health care system, guaranteeing health care to all of our people as a right.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Apr 19, 2015

Civilized societies provide healthcare for the poor

I have always been a proponent of a national health care system. It just seemed eminently fair and right. How can we call this a civilized society when the children or parents of the rich get the medical attention they need in order to stay alive, while members of working-class families, who lack health insurance, have to die or needlessly suffer--or go hopelessly into debt to get the care they need? This is an outrageous injustice and it cannot be rationally defended.

The fight for a national health care system today is not basically different than the struggle for universal public education which took place in this country 100 years ago. At that time, children of the well-to-do received an education; most of the children of working people and the poor did not. After enormous struggle, our society concluded that all children, regardless of income, were entitled to at least a high school education. Some day we will also accept that all people, regardless of income, are entitled to health care.

Source: Outsider in the House, by Bernie Sanders, p.175-6 , Jun 17, 1997


Bernie Sanders on Voting Record

Voted for ObamaCare; but prefers single-payer system

On health care: Change to single-payer government-provided health care

Sanders voted for the Affordable Care Act, but believes that the new health care law did not go far enough. Instead, he espouses a single-payer system in which the federal and state governments would provide health care to all Americans. Participating states would be required to set up their own single-payer system and a national oversight board would establish an overall budget.

Source: PBS News Hour "2016 Candidate Stands" series , Apr 30, 2015

MEDS Plan: Cover senior Rx under Medicare.

Sanders adopted the Progressive Caucus Position Paper:

Summary of the Medicare Extention of Drugs To Seniors Act (Meds)

MEDS establishes an 80/20 outpatient prescription drug benefit under a new Medicare Part D that will be administered by the Health Care Financing Administration. The plan will cost similar to figures for the Bush prescription drug plan due to this plan’s emphasis on lowering the price of pharmaceuticals.

Premiums and Low-income Assistance:

Premiums would be $24/month in the first year and indexed to a pharmaceutical Sustainable Growth Rate, which will ensure that premiums or drug costs do not increase arbitrarily.

Employer Incentive Program:

Employers providing drug coverage equal to or better than the Medicare coverage receive an incentive payment to maintain such coverage.
Source: CPC Press Release, MEDS Plan 01-CPC3 on Jan 31, 2001

Rated 100% by APHA, indicating a pro-public health record.

Sanders scores 100% by APHA on health issues

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health. APHA is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.

The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization`s preferred position.

Source: APHA website 03n-APHA on Dec 31, 2003

Improve services for people with autism & their families.

Sanders co-sponsored improving services for people with autism & their families

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to:

  1. convene, on behalf of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, a Treatments, Interventions, and Services Evaluation Task Force to evaluate evidence-based biomedical and behavioral treatments and services for individuals with autism;
  2. establish a multi-year demonstration grant program for states to provide evidence-based autism treatments, interventions, and services.
  3. establish planning and demonstration grant programs for adults with autism;
  4. award grants to states for access to autism services following diagnosis;
  5. award grants to University Centers of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities to provide services and address the unmet needs of individuals with autism and their families;
  6. make grants to protection and advocacy systems to address the needs of individuals with autism and other emerging populations of individuals with disabilities; and
  7. award a grant to a national nonprofit organization for the establishment and maintenance of a national technical assistance center for autism services and information dissemination.
  8. Directs the Comptroller General to issue a report on the financing of autism services and treatments.
Source: Promise for Individuals With Autism Act (S.937 & HR.1881) 07-HR1881 on Apr 17, 2007

Establish a national childhood cancer database.

Sanders co-sponsored establishing a national childhood cancer database

Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2007 - A bill to advance medical research and treatments into pediatric cancers, ensure patients and families have access to the current treatments and information regarding pediatric cancers, establish a population-based national childhood cancer database, and promote public awareness of pediatric cancers.

    Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to childhood cancer professional and direct service organizations for the expansion and widespread implementation of:
  1. activities that provide information on treatment protocols to ensure early access to the best available therapies and clinical trials for pediatric cancers;
  2. activities that provide available information on the late effects of pediatric cancer treatment to ensure access to necessary long-term medical and psychological care; and
  3. direct resource services such as educational outreach for parents, information on school reentry and postsecondary education, and resource directories or referral services for financial assistance, psychological counseling, and other support services.
Legislative Outcome: House version H.R.1553; became Public Law 110-285 on 7/29/2008.
Source: Conquer Childhood Cancer Act (S911/HR1553) 07-S911 on Mar 19, 2007

Increase funding for occupational & physical therapy.

Sanders signed Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act (MARS)

Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the cap on outpatient physical therapy, speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy services of the type furnished by a physician or as an incident to physicians` services.

SEC. 2. OUTPATIENT THERAPY CAP REPEAL.

Section 1833 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395(l)) is amended by striking subsection (g).

[Explanatory note from Wikipedia.com `Therapy Cap`]:

In 1997 Congress established per-person Medicare spending limits, or `therapy cap` for nonhospital outpatient therapy, but responding to concerns that some people with Medicare need extensive services, it has since placed temporary moratoriums on the caps. The therapy cap is a combined $1,810 Medicare cap for physical therapy and speech language pathology, and a separate $1,810 cap for occupational therapy ($1870 for 2011). Medicare patients requiring rehabilitation from disabilities, car accidents, hip injuries, stroke, and other ailments would be limited to roughly two months worth of treatments at an outpatient therapy clinic. Any patients that exceed the cap, whether they are healed or not, would have to stop therapy, or pay for the therapy services out of their own pocket.Several medical associations have lobbied against therapy caps because the bill inadvertently restricted disabled seniors, stroke patients, and other severe cases from receiving therapy treatments.

Source: HR.1546&S829 11-S0829 on Apr 14, 2011

Keep healthcare mandate, according to CC survey.

Sanders opposes the CC survey question on healthcare mandate

The Christian Coalition Voter Guide inferred whether candidates agree or disagree with the statement, 'Repealing the Nationalized Health Care System that Forces Citizens to Buy Insurance ' Christian Coalition's self-description: "Christian Voter Guide is a clearing-house for traditional, pro-family voter guides. We do not create voter guides, nor do we interview or endorse candidates."

Source: Christian Coalition Surve 18CC-5 on Jul 1, 2018

Preserve access to Medicaid & SCHIP during economic downturn.

Sanders co-sponsored preserving access to Medicaid & SCHIP in economic downturn

A bill to preserve access to Medicaid and the State Children`s Health Insurance Program during an economic downturn.

Source: Economic Recovery in Health Care Act (S.2819) 2008-S2819 on Apr 7, 2008

Provide for treatment of autism under TRICARE.

Sanders signed bill providing for autism treatment under TRICARE

A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the treatment of autism under TRICARE. Revises TRICARE (a Department of Defense [DOD] managed health care program) to authorize treatment of autism spectrum disorders, if a health care professional determines that such treatment is medically necessary.

Source: S.1169&HR.1600 2009-S1169 on Jun 3, 2009

Sponsored bill expanding the National Health Service Corps.

Sanders sponsored Access for All America Act

    A bill to achieve access to comprehensive primary health care services for all Americans and to reform the organization of primary care delivery through an expansion of the Community Health Center and National Health Service Corps programs. Amends the Public Health Service Act to:
  1. increase and extend the authorization of appropriations for community health centers and for the National Health Service Corps scholarship and loan repayment program for FY2010-FY2015, and provide for increased funding for such programs in FY2016 and each subsequent fiscal year; and
  2. revise and expand provisions allowing a community health center to provide services at different locations, adjust its operating plan and budget, enter into arrangements with other centers to purchase supplies and services at reduced cost, and correct material failures in grant compliance.
Source: S.486&HR1296 2009-S486 on Mar 4, 2009

Collect data on birth defects and present to the public.

Sanders co-sponsored the Birth Defects Prevention Act

Corresponding House bill is H.R.1114. Became Public Law No: 105-168.
Source: Bill sponsored by 35 Senators and 164 Reps 97-S419 on Mar 11, 1997

Make health care a right, not a privilege.

Sanders adopted the Progressive Caucus Position Paper:

    The Progressive Caucus is united in its goal of making health care a right, not a privilege. Every person should have access to affordable, comprehensive and high-quality medical care. We must use our health care dollars efficiently and ensure public accountability in all medical decisions. Based on this goal, we support the following principles:
  1. All Americans, including the 44 million currently without health insurance, deserve to have the health care they need, regardless of ability to pay.
  2. Medicare must remain solvent and available for the millions of seniors and individuals with disabilities who rely on the program. The Progressive Caucus supports expanding the program to cover prescription drugs and other needed products and services for beneficiaries. We support a Medicare buy-in for individuals age 55 and older. We support lowering out-of-pocket costs for seniors who currently pay, on average, 20% of their income for health care.
  3. Proposals should be rejected to change traditional Medicare from a defined benefit to a defined contribution or voucher system.
  4. Balanced Budget Act cuts that are negatively affecting patient access to hospitals, nursing homes, and home health agencies must be restored.
  5. Medicaid must have the resources to continue to provide coverage and care for low-income individuals, including children in the CHIP program.
  6. Individuals with disabilities should retain their health benefits when they return to work and to have access to rehabilitative and other needed services.
  7. Funding and outreach and other programs serving low-income Americans should be expanded. Examples of such programs are the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB), Specified Low-income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB), and Qualified Individuals programs; transitional funds for Medicaid recipients who are also welfare-to-work recipients; and for HHS for mental health outreach for the elderly.
Source: CPC Position Paper: Health Care 99-CPC2 on Nov 11, 1999

Other candidates on Health Care: Bernie Sanders on other issues:
2024 Republican Presidential Candidates:
Former Pres.Donald Trump (R nominee)
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance (VP nominee)
Ryan Binkley (R-TX)
Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND)
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ)
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)
Larry Elder (R-CA;withdrew)
Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC)
Rep. Will Hurd (R-FL;withdrew)
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR)
Perry Johnson (R-IL)
Mayor Steve Laffey (R-RI)
Former V.P.Mike Pence (R-IN;withdrew)
Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
Secy. Corey Stapleton (R-MT)
Mayor Francis Suarez (R-FL;withdrew)

2024 Democratic and 3rd-party primary candidates:
V.P.Kamala Harris (D nominee)
MN Gov Tim Walz (VP nominee)
Pres. Joe Biden (D-DE,retiring)
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (I-NY)
Chase Oliver (L-GA)
Rep.Dean Phillips (D-MN)
Jill Stein (Green)
Cornel West (Green Party)
Kanye West (Birthday Party)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
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