Medicare for All 2022 gains new hope with Sanders as HELP committee chair
Last week, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) confirmed his desire to chair the [HELP] Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for the 118th Congress, saying he would “focus on universal healthcare, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, increasing access to higher education, and protecting workers’ rights on the job.”
At the helm of the HELP Committee, Sanders would have a larger platform to champion his progressive ideas, including the updated Medicare for All Act of 2022 that he introduced in May. (See below for details.) He clearly sees health care as a human right, saying, “All Americans are entitled to go to the doctor when they’re sick and not go bankrupt after staying in the hospital.”
A universal, high-quality healthcare system might seem like a no-brainer, because over 2/3 of voters support it. But despite popular support, politicians of both parties have aligned more with industry than with constituents. That’s why I had to weigh in on online discussions in social media, saying…
American Exceptionalism is often a myth, and in healthcare it’s a perverse lie designed to enrich the medical industrial complex (cartel). If only our elected officials had the courage to stand up to industry pressure and reform our broken sick care system to become “Average.”
We would SAVE some $2 trillion per year if we spent the same amount per capita, or as a percent of GDP, as rich peer nations. They tend to care for everyone universally, live longer on average, and generally have better health outcomes.
Think how those trillions could be better spent. Imagine the economic benefits of making strategic public investments in a healthy, skilled, productive, and well paid workforce that increases market demand for the goods and services they deliver. Imagine the impact of that on corporate profits, GDP, and global competitiveness. Now vote for those who can think for all us as a society and overcome their personal greed.
