ECONOMISTS AND HEALTH CARE EXPERTS IN SUPPORT OF BERNIE SANDERS’ MEDICARE FOR ALL

Submitted by amyjune on

Bernie Sanders’ Medicare-for-All plan for universal health care in the United States is the right way to ensure affordable access to health care for all Americans.

The Affordable Care Act has made important strides in expanding health insurance, especially for low-income and young Americans. It has instituted important protections against exclusion from coverage. And it has empowered American workers, especially those with health conditions. But 29 million people in this country remain uninsured, and many more struggle with high co-payments and deductibles.  Senator Sanders’ plan delivers universal coverage at a fraction of the cost because it replaces private health care premiums, co-payments and deductibles with a single, smaller payment into the Medicare-for-All system.  In short, the Sanders plan will do more and cost less than any privately-administered health insurance system.

We agree with Bernie Sanders that we must build on the proven record over 50 years of the Medicare program. We must provide the freedom and security to all Americans that comes with finally separating health insurance from employment.

Bernie Sanders’s single-payer system would cost less than our current system, because a single-payer system wouldn’t spend huge sums on advertising, marketing, executive pay, and billing, as private insurers do. The Sanders single-payer system would empower Medicare to negotiate fair prices for drugs and procedures. It would be financed by a fair and reasonable tax, replacing a battery of larger and more burdensome payments to private insurance companies. By eliminating the profit-seeking interests of the insurance companies, the bills will get paid, and there will be no more fighting with insurers who fail to pay in full or on time.

Every other major Western country has made the morally principled and financially responsible decision to provide universal health insurance. The result – in Europe, Canada and Japan – is better health at lower cost. The United States can do this. And we have a program – Medicare – that shows how it can be done here.  

See a list of others who have signed on their support:

  1. RoseAnn DeMoro, National Nurses United Executive Director
  2. James K. Galbraith, University of Texas
  3. Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research
  4. Robert Reich, University of California Berkeley
  5. Eileen Appelbaum, Center for Economic and Policy Research
  6. John Dennis Chasse, SUNY Brockport
  7. James M. Cypher, Universidad Autnoma de Zacatecas
  8. Reynold F. Nesiba, Augustana University
  9. Scott McConnell, Eastern Oregon University
  10. Professor Mayo C. Toruño, California State University, San Bernardino
  11. Zohreh M Niknia, Mills College
  12. John T. Harvey, Texas Christian University
  13. Mitchell R. Green, Binzagr Institute for Sustainable Prosperity.
  14. Erik Dean, Portland Community College
  15. Timothy A Wunder, University of Texas at Arlington
  16. Kalpana Khanal, Nichols College
  17. Scott Fullwiler, Wartburg College
  18. Linwood F. Tauheed, University of Missouri-Kansas City
  19. William S. Brown, former academic economist, private business owner, Taku Reel Repair
  20. Doug Henwood, Economics Journalist and Consultant
  21. Barbara Katz-Rothman, CUNY Graduate School and University Center
  22. Masanori Kuroki, Arkansas Tech University
  23. Terrence McDonough, National University of Ireland Galway
  24. Helen Scharber, Hampshire College
  25. Arthur MacEwan, University of Massachusetts Boston
  26. Anita Dancs, Western New England University
  27. Mona Ali, State University of New York at New Paltz