The most well-known supporter of this bill is Bernie Sanders, well, because he "wrote the damn bill." Sanders’ bill would replace all other health insurance, including privatized health insurance, employer-based insurance, current Medicaid/Medicare programs, and the Affordable Care Act–with exceptions to aspects such as cosmetic surgery. Under the program, all US citizens would receive health insurance as a right, which means that all medical bills will be covered–with no financial burdens or additional burdens placed on the patients under the program.
With the current environment of the US' healthcare system, with the increasing medical costs of insulin, Daraprim, and other medicines, people are demanding change to the current, profit-based, medical system. In fact, while the healthcare in the US is 3x more expensive than the rest of the world, the US has been ranked the lowest in healthcare quality and access compared to all of the developed countries.
This has led many to appeal to the idea of Medicare-for-all as the future of health care in the US, following the example of many other developed countries that have implemented a form of Universal Health Care such as Canada, countries in Europe, and others. Under this system, costs would be lowered as health care is guaranteed to all citizens since the government controls the price of medication and medical services through regulation and negotiation. Additionally, it could lead to a healthier population. Studies show that preventive care lowers expensive emergency room usage. Before the Affordable Care Act, 46% of emergency room patients were there because it was their only option due to high costs. Medicare-for-all would decrease these numbers due to increased access to health care and insurance.
However, there are also risks to take into consideration when thinking about implementing Universal Health Care in the US. In order to keep costs low and affordable, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and doctors may decrease the quality of their care. Because of decreased funding and profits, drug companies may lose the incentive to innovate for new life-saving technologies and medicines. Additionally, some countries who have implemented similar systems have seen doctors being paid less, which means that doctors may also have less incentive to provide quality care for their patients in order to keep their costs down.
Therefore, given the climate of our current health care system in the US, there is definitely a need for change. But is Medicare-for-all and Universal Health Care the solution? Before an answer to this question can be made, we must consider both the risks and benefits of such a system.
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