Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, authored a bill that seeks to transform the present Medicare into a health insurance under a single system, Politico reported. Sanders’ universal healthcare bill would benefit over 300 million Americans. Senator Sanders got the support of 15 liberal senators.
The universal healthcare system should be another top priority, Bernie Sanders
Senator Bernie Sanders believed that Medicare for all Americans is a reasonable and cost-effective healthcare system. However, Sanders’ universal healthcare bill will still have to confront what the senator labeled as the most avaricious and powerful forces in the United States: Wall Street, the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and on top of them all, the Republican party.
Senator Sanders exactly knows that his Medicare for All bill will have a slim chance of being passed into law in a Republican-controlled Congress.
What is Sanders’ Medicare for All bill?
Sanders’ universal healthcare bill seeks to completely reform the US healthcare system and pushes for a government-controlled health insurance program. The Medicare for All comprehensively includes coverage for the cost of prescription drugs, hospital services, mental health, and dental health as well as maternity and newborn care.
According to Sanders, the Medicare for All bill will include Americans below 18 years old. Also, there will be a drop of eligibility age from 65 to 55 years old in the first year of the new program.
This eligibility age will be lessened eventually until the fourth year of the program, and during such time every American will be given a universal Medicare card.
Under the Medicare for All, people will still be seeing their private physicians and will be going to the same hospital they went to. The only difference is that the Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance card will be replaced by the Medicare for All card.
Growing support for Sanders’ Medicare for All
Public support for a new healthcare system significantly rose since the Vermont senator launched his presidential campaign in 2015. In 2008 and 2009 only forty-six percent of the public showed support to such a healthcare system. However, a very recent Kaiser poll revealed that fifty-three percent of the Americans show their support to the idea of reforming the US healthcare system.
Senator Sanders’ Medicare for All is receiving overwhelming support from the Liberal Party. The 15 Democratic senators who co-sponsor the said bill include Al Franken, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker.
