11th Democratic Primary Debate: on Health Care

Bernie Sanders: Cover all costs for coronavirus testing and treatment

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.

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

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.

Bernie Sanders: We need a simple system, which exists in Canada

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.

Donald Trump: Refused coronavirus test kits from World Health Organization

Joe Biden: The World Health Organization [WHO] offered the testing kits that they have available, now. We refused them. We did not want to buy them. [Trump] said something like, "We have the best scientists in America," or something to that effect.

Bernie Sanders: This is a time for all of us working together. The World Health Organization is a very, very strong organization. It is sad that we have a President that has ignored the international community in so many ways, including in terms of international health crisis.

Fact-check posted Mar.6 by Politico.com: On Jan. 11, Chinese scientists posted the genome of the mysterious new virus, and within a week virologists in Berlin had produced the first diagnostic test for the disease. The WHO had shipped tests to nearly 60 countries. The US was not among them. Why the US declined to use the WHO test, even temporarily, remains a perplexing question.

Joe Biden: Coronavirus national rally: care; testing; hospital capacity

1. We have to take care of those who are exposed, or are likely to be exposed to the virus, and that means we have to get the testing kits up & ready. I'd take advantage of the test kits the World Health Organization have available. I would make sure that every state had at least 10 places where they had drive-through testing arrangements.
2. We have to deal with the economic fallout quickly, and that means making sure that people who lose their job, can't pay their mortgage, are able to pay it.
3. I would also at this point deal with the need to begin to plan for the need for additional hospital beds. We have that capacity with FEMA: they can set up 100-bed, 500-bed hospitals and tents quickly.

Joe Biden: Accept coronavirus test kits from World Health Organization

Biden: No. The World Health Organization offered the [coronavirus] testing kits that they have available and to give it to us now. We refused them. We did not want to buy them. We did not want to get them from them. We wanted to make sure we had our own. [Trump] said something like, "We have the best scientists in America," or something to that effect. We are not prepared for this. I agree with Bernie, we're in a situation where we have to now be providing for the hospitals that are going to be needed, needed now.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: This is a time for all of us working together. The World Health Organization is a very, very strong organization. It is sad that we have a President that has ignored the international community in so many ways, including in terms of international health crisis.

Joe Biden: We've handled pandemics before, present system not ready

With all due respect to Medicare for all, you have a single-payer system in Italy. It doesn't work there. It has nothing to do with Medicare for all. That would not solve the problem at all. We can take care of that right now by making sure that no one has to pay for treatment, period, because of the crisis. No one has to pay for whatever drugs are needed, period. No one has to pay for hospitalization. period. That is a national emergency, and that's how it's handled.

Joe Biden: Restore all cuts made to ObamaCare, then add more