U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), alongside Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), introduced the Medicare for All Act last Tuesday, April 29. Hundreds of nurses, health care providers and workers from around the nation joined the lawmakers for a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol.
In America, despite spending twice as much per person on health care as other wealthy nations, more than 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, one out of every four Americans cannot afford their prescription drugs, over half a million people go bankrupt due to medically related debt, and more than 60,000 die because they cannot afford to go to a doctor.
“The American people understand, as I do, that health care is a human right, not a privilege and that we must end the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all of its citizens,” said Sen. Sanders. “It is not acceptable to me, nor to the American people, that over 85 million people today are either uninsured or underinsured. Today, there are millions of people who would like to go to a doctor but cannot afford to do so. This is an outrage. In America, your health and your longevity should not be dependent on your wealth. Health care is a human right that all Americans, regardless of income, are entitled to and they deserve the best health care that our country can provide.”
“It is a travesty when 85 million people are uninsured or underinsured and millions more are drowning in medical debt in the richest nation on Earth,” said Jayapal. “We don’t suffer from scarcity in America, we suffer from greed. That’s most clear in our broken health care system, which is why we need Medicare for All.”
“Every American has the right to health care, period. If you’re sick, you should be able to go to the doctor without being worried about the cost of treatment or prescription medicine. Too many families must decide between putting food on the table and getting medical care that they desperately need,” said Dingell. “We’ve been fighting this fight since the 1940s, when my father-in-law helped author the first universal health care bill. It’s time to get this done.”
Under this legislation, Medicare would provide comprehensive health care to every American with no premiums, no co-payments and no deductibles. It would also expand Medicare to include dental, hearing, and vision care, and it would give every American the freedom to choose their doctors without endless paperwork or fighting their insurance company. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Medicare for All would save our health care system $650 billion a year. Further, researchers at Yale University have estimated that Medicare for All would save 68,000 lives a year.
This legislation would also create a health care system that finally puts people over profits, Sanders, Jayapal and Dingell stated.
Since 2001, the top health care companies in America spent 95% of their profits, $2.6 trillion, not to make Americans healthy but to make their CEOs and stockholders obscenely rich. While nearly one out of four Americans cannot afford the life-saving medicine their doctors prescribe, 10 top pharma companies made $102 billion in profits in 2024. Meanwhile, the CEOs of just four prescription drug companies — Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, and Merck — together made over $100 million last year.
The legislation has 104 cosponsors in the House and has 16 cosponsors in the Senate — an increase in the number of Senate cosponsors from last Congress.
“With the passage of the Medicare for All Act, physicians can focus on healing patients, not battling insurers over denials and delays. Patients will finally be able to seek care without the constant fear of crushing medical bills.”
“America spends much more than other wealthy countries on health care only to have the worst health outcomes,” said Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen. “The system works for health insurers, Big Pharma, hospital chains and private equity firms — but no one else. Medicare for All would ensure everyone in America can get the care they need throughout their lives. It is the realistic, humane, just and efficient reform we need.”
“Every time we negotiate with a boss for the right to see a doctor, they nickel and dime us until people have to choose between their health and putting food on the table,” said Shawn Fain, President of the international union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). “We’re sick of having to go on strike just to have decent health care.”
“Instead of getting health care, Americans get delays, denials, and bills they cannot afford. Today, predatory insurance CEOs are poised to reap the windfall from the tax scam giveaways earmarked for billionaires and corporations. The oligarchs that put Donald Trump and Dr. Oz in power want everything we have. We get sicker, make impossible choices, and go broke. They boost the stock prices of corporations — like UnitedHealth — that profit off our pain, and buy more mansions and yachts. We can put an end to those warped priorities through Medicare for All,” said Sulma Arias, executive director of People’s Action Institute. “Working people have made this the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, and there is more than enough if we don’t let the corporate crooks and billionaires steal it. So it’s time to choose: Our health care or their greed?”
