Sources: MoveOn.org Civic Action; NewJerseyToday.net; NorthJersey.com
Addressing a rally outside the Capitol to mark the 50th anniversary of Medicare, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today announced that he will introduce legislation to provide Medicare-for-all health insurance. “We need to expand Medicare to cover every man, woman and child as a single-payer national health care program,” he said.
Providing health insurance for everyone in the United States would result in better care, improved access and lower costs by eliminating the middle-man role played by insurance companies that now rake in billions of dollars in profits.
Sanders’ bill, which he said he will soon introduce in the Senate, would set federal guidelines and strong minimum standards for states to administer single-payer health care programs. “The United States is the only major nation in the industrialized world that does not guarantee health care as a right to its people,” Sanders said. “Meanwhile, we spend far more per capita on health care with worse results than other countries. It is time that we bring about a fundamental transformation of the American health care system.”
The Affordable Care Act, which Sanders supported when it was passed in 2010, has provided access to health insurance for millions more people but will still leave 30 million uninsured, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Sanders’ proposal also would rein in skyrocketing prices for prescription drugs. Americans pay pharmaceutical companies nearly twice for the exact same drugs manufactured by the exact same companies in other countries.
The East Rutherford Memorial Library will be hosting a program entitled Absolute Insurance Management (AIM) with President/CEO Robert Frank. He will be able to answer any of your questions about Medicare on Monday, Sept. 21, at 6:30 p.m. To register, visit eastrutherford.bccls.org or call 201-939-3930.