Today, Sen Bernie Sanders, Rep Pramila Jayapal, and Rep Deb Dingell reintroduced the Medicare for All Act, to guarantee health care as a fundamental human right for all Americans. They were joined by a record number of cosponsors.1
More than 68,000 Americans die each year because they can’t afford health care, and millions more suffer unnecessarily because of delayed treatment. Some 112 million Americans are struggling to pay for medical care and 85 million are uninsured or under-insured.2
It doesn’t need to be this way. The United States must join the rest of the industrialized world and create universal health care through Medicare for All.
The only winners under our current privatized system are the insurance companies, big pharma, and healthcare CEOs. Since 2007, private health insurance companies have spent $141 billion on stock buybacks. During that same time, the cost of the average family’s health insurance shot up by 86% to $22,463 a year while average premiums soared to over $4,300.3
The Medicare for All Act of 2023 would create a universal health insurance program that would ensure quality health care to everyone. There would be no out-of-pocket expenses, insurance premiums, deductibles, or co-payments.
“The American people understand, as I do, that healthcare is a human right, not a privilege...As we speak, there are millions of people who would like to go to a doctor but cannot afford to do so. That is an outrage,” said Sen. Sanders.3
Besides ensuring quality, free healthcare to everyone, Medicare for All would also be far cheaper than our current system. Americans pay nearly twice per capita on healthcare as other comparable nations, yet we have worse health outcomes. Infant mortality rates, life expectancy, and other markers are significantly worse in the U.S. than other industrialized countries with public health systems. Nearly 1 in 3 COVID deaths have been linked to lack of health insurance.4
We must fix this broken system and ensure that all Americans have access to medical care.
Sources:
- Pramila Jayapal, "Jayapal, Dingell, Sanders Introduce Medicare for All with Record Number of House Cosponsors,” May 17, 2023.
- Bernie Sanders, "NEWS: Sanders, Jayapal, Dingell More Than 120 Colleagues in House and Senate Reintroduce Medicare for All,” May 17, 2023.
- Bernie Sanders, Twitter, May 12, 2023.
- Bernie Sanders, "Medicare for All Factsheet,” May 12, 2022.