Bernie Sanders' Medicare-For-All legislation

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation Wednesday that would expand Medicare into a universal health insurance program with the backing of at least 15 Democratic senators — a record level of support for an idea that had been relegated to the fringes during the last Democratic presidency.

“This is where the country has got to go,” Sanders said in an interview at his Senate office. “Right now, if we want to move away from a dysfunctional, wasteful, bureaucratic system into a rational health-care system that guarantees coverage to everyone in a cost-effective way, the only way to do it is Medicare for All.”

Sanders’s bill, the Medicare for All Act of 2017, has no chance of passage in a Republican-run Congress. But after months of behind-the-scenes meetings and a public pressure campaign, the bill is already backed by most of the senators seen as likely 2020 Democratic candidates — if not by most senators facing tough reelection battles in 2018.

The bill would revolutionize America’s health-care system, replacing it with a public system that would be paid for by higher taxes. Everything from emergency surgery to prescription drugs, from mental health to eye care, would be covered, with no co-payments. Americans younger than 18 would immediately obtain “universal Medicare cards,” while Americans not currently eligible for Medicare would be phased into the program over four years. Employer-provided health care would be replaced, with the employers paying higher taxes but no longer on the hook for insurance.

Private insurers would remain, with fewer customers, to pay for elective treatments such as cosmetic surgery — a system similar to that in Australia, which President Trump has praised for having a “much better” insurance regimen than the United States.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/sanders-will-introduce-universal-health-care-backed-by-15-democrats/2017/09/12/d590ef26-97b7-11e7-87fc-c3f7ee4035c9_story.html

Full info in link. What do y'all think? Is this the way forward?

Bernie is a crack pot. That article read like a communist manifesto.

Brent Saunders (Alergan CEO) warns fellow pharmaceutical executives: "Americans have lost trust in drug companies... [Americans might say] enough’s enough. Let’s just change the whole system. Let’s go to one payer."

Poor thing... I really feel for the guy.

It almost seems inevitable that single payer happens at a certain point. Conservative republicans of old are starting to be replaced by present day Trump supporters who aren't adherent to Paul Ryan's and co. philosophies.

Will wait for people to pick it apart to see how it actually operates and score it.

"The CEO has been under fire for taking the unprecedented step of transferring the patent of one of Allergan’s blockbuster drugs, the eye medication Restasis, to a sovereign Native American tribe as part of a bid to maintain monopoly control of the drug and its revenue."

WTF? How is this legal? And he wants the Pharma industry to improve it's image? HAHAHAHAHAHA

Watching this industry over the last several years, this is what they do. They give lip service to actually caring, jack up prices, and then declare that they're the good guys.

The details or mechanisms shift around a bit, but that's the pattern.

I disagree.

There's just a big..... schism in medicine.

This is why i never liked the term "big pharma" and the implications behind it. Because most people get into medicine because they do actually want to help people and save lives, its really as simple as that. Even from the pharmaceutical manufacturing side this is true (although salesmen are a different story). You will have some who do it only for the money, but that is a fraction of doctors, but when we add corporations and profits before people, this is where the problems come in. Which creates this weird mix and imo puts people in bad positions. Its just such a complex and complicated situation that we should not sum it up as them all being lying scumbags not interested in human life.

What's funny is that corporate democrats like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker support it.

So my guess from these two sellouts, that it won't pass under their term.

Sanders has as much chance of that being passed as Clinton has becoming president.

Crackpot idea from a guy who clearly need to go retire and relax in Florida before he hurts himself.

Eventually it will happen but I couldn't predict when.....might be a bit soon though. Business stills runs government.

Remember kids, if an idea is different from yours, just call it "communist!" It's way easier to dismiss a person through petty insults instead of using rational counter-arguments to make your case!

Why use any semblance of your mind when you can take the easy way out!

If business runs the government, it would make sense that it will never happen.

Since the medical industry is a multi-billion dollar business

Key word still.............the more you know.

Sorry, i allowed your previous posts cloud the last bit´s intention.

But then we agree on something for once.

Be interesting to see how this is paid for other than skyrocketing the national debt further. Simply adopting single payer isnt the answer if the govt. still can't negotiate with drug companies.

Oh that's true. It would be idiotic to implement this without negotiate the price.

All I know is Medicaid is awesome. Got on it a while ago and haven't paid a penny since. It's just the circumstance I'm in right now until I finish rn school. But I can see why people would prefer to work for $8/hr with food stamps and the absolute best medical insurance for free, rather than making $10/hr and losing it all. I've known people that refused raises to keep the benefits. I'm not sure what this Sanders thing is, but it'd be nice if the govt paid everyone's medical(somewhat like Canada does). It'd create more jobs, people would be healthier (can't afford a CT scan, etc), and less stress and worrying about the what ifs. I sometimes wonder if a small fraction of the military budget could cover this. Side note: I'm glad the state I'm in is paying adults college fees starting next year.

Increased Tax will pay for it. Which will be met by the company no longer have to pay or have health insurance options.

It´s in the link.

He's talking about dealing with the pharmaceuticals industry though.

@Jacanuk:

Increased tax on everyone. They'll let you know how much in another bill.