Sen.Bernie Sanders again introduced his signature health care legislation Wednesday, which if passed and signed into law, would provide government-run, Medicare-style health insurance for all Americans and outlaw most duplicative private insurance in the process.
“The Medicare for All Act will provide comprehensive health care to every man, woman and child in our country without out of pocket expenses. No more insurance premiums, deductibles or co-payments. Further, this bill improves Medicare coverage to include dental, hearing and vision care,” Sanders’ team wrote in a summary of the bill distributed ahead of a press conference on Capitol Hill.
(John Locher/John Locher/AP) Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally in Henderson, Nev., March 16, 2019.The bill calls for a four-year transition “phase-in” during, which time the government would incrementally lower the age in which Americans could buy-in to Medicare.
The Medicare for All legislation has gained significant popularity within the Democratic Party and across the country. According to Sanders’ staff, the bill has been endorsed by 58 national organizations and unions, double the total from 2017, including the American Federation of Teachers, American Medical Student Association, American Sustainable Business Council, Americans for Democratic Action, Black Women’s Health Imperative, and more.
Fifteen of Sanders’ Democratic colleagues in the Senate signed on as co-sponsors of the bill too. Notably several of the other lawmakers running for president in the Democratic primary are listed in the group, such as Current co-sponsors: Sens. Cory Booker , D-N.J., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Still, several top Democratic Party leaders have disregarded the plan as too disruptive and expensive.
One study last year estimated that Sanders’ legislation could cost the federal government more than $32 trillion dollars over ten years, according to the libertarian-leaning Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Still, Sanders team maintains that the federal government is already spending significantly on health care and that too many families go bankrupt due to medical expenses and the cost of private for-profit coverage.
