On September 13th, 2017, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced his new plan to give everyone government-run health insurance. This is already what most modern states in the world do, except for America.
The Sanders plan calls for a dramatic overhaul of American health insurance with a more generous and improved version of Medicare that would replace nearly all private health insurance and would involve government exerting far more control over the cost of medical care. It would arguably be the most ambitious social welfare initiative in U.S. history, but Sanders believes that the American people are ready for it. It is basically a single-payer plan, like what most modern states in the world already have.
“The American people are catching on to where the Republicans are coming from, they see the limitations of the Affordable Care Act and they’re looking at the alternatives,” Sanders said. “And this is a rational alternative.” (Huffington Post, 9-13-17)
Sanders has been fighting for this kind of universal health care since the early 1990s when he first came to Congress. In 2013, when he introduced a previous iteration of the bill, he had almost no support from his colleagues. The Democratic Party considered his idea part of the radical fringe.
But now 16 Democratic senators are co-sponsoring the bill. That is more than one-third of the Senate Democratic caucus. He also has 24 of the biggest liberal advocacy organizations behind him, including Our Revolution, Social Security Works, National Nurses United, 350.Org, etc.
What his plan envisions is giving all Americans (including undocumented immigrants) an enhanced version of Medicare with virtually no out-of-pocket spending, as well as dental, vision and hearing aid coverage. It would give the government the power to set prices and establish a national health care budget. This wouldn't all be done at once, but the plan is to phase it in over time.
Right now it doesn't look like Sanders has the majority needed to make the bill a reality, but what we do see is more American people are supporting the idea than before. Democrats are moving further to the left on the issue of health care.
Even with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), roughly 20 million Americans lack health care. And if the Republicans actually succeed in their repeated attempts to repeal the ACA, we'll go back to the roughly 50 million who lacked care before the ACA was put into place. The ACA was an improvement, but not the ultimate solution. Americans need a solution that can cover everyone. Sanders' plan is a step in the right direction.
READ THE BILL
Executive Summary of Bill on Official Bernie Sanders Site
RELATED WORLD FUTURE FUND REPORTS
Need for Single Payer Health Insurance
WHAT IS IN BERNIE'S PLAN?
Bernie Sanders Announces Single-Payer Bill With Major Support In Senate (Huffington Post, 9-13-17)
Here's What's In Bernie Sanders' 'Medicare For All' Bill (NPR, 9-14-17)
Inside Bernie Sanders' new 'Medicare for all' bill (CNN, 9-13-17)
Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All: How would it work? (CBS News, 9-14-17)
SUPPORT FOR BERNIE'S PLAN
BERNIE’S ARMY: 24 ORGANIZATIONS WITH MILLIONS OF MEMBERS VOW TO HELP PASS HIS UNIVERSAL MEDICARE PLAN (The Intercept, 9-13-17)
How Bernie Sanders got Democrats to stop worrying and embrace single-payer (VOX, 9-13-17)
One-Third of Democratic Senators Support Bernie Sanders’s Single-Payer Plan (New York Times, 9-13-17)
Warren backs Sanders’ single-payer health care plan (Boston Globe, 9-7-17)