U.S. Healthcare Policy: Medicare for All
- ayvreewegner
- Dec 5, 2024
- 3 min read
One of the largest strides towards universal healthcare in regards to legislation has been from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and his Medicare for All Act introduced on May 17, 2023. The Medicare for All Act has been introduced to both the Senate and the House and while it still remains in the hands of the Committees there is promise in understanding and exploring this policy and how it would further the charge towards universal healthcare in the United States.
While we will primarily be discussing the 2023 Medicare for All Act it is important to note that this is not the first time it has been introduced to Congress. The idea was first proposed to the House in 2003 by Representative John Conyers as well as 38 co-sponsors and has since been reintroduced multiple times and evolved to match the ideas of those proposing and supporting the bill.
The 2023 Medicare for All Act introduced by Bernie Sanders has a total of 14 co-sponsors all of which are Democratic Senators.
This video was published by Bernie Sanders regarding the 2023 Medicare for All Act and discusses the current issues with Healthcare in America as well as the benefits to the Medicare for All Act.
There has been a lot of discussions about what the Medicare for All Act really is and how it will truly change our healthcare system. While the United States is considered to have a multi-payer system, compared to other countries that also have multi-payer systems, American healthcare is disproportionately in the hands of private healthcare companies. While this video was published by the Wall Street Journal in 2020 it has great information around the discussion and confusion of the Medicare for All Act as well as describing the systems of healthcare in the United States and other countries and how they would not only play a role in the Medicare for All Act but also other proposed healthcare bills.
One of the biggest questions surrounding this discussion is the effects on the private sector of healthcare and if they will be involved at any level or eliminated. This question is what tends to sway people, especially those with higher incomes, on whether or not they would be on board with the Medicare for All Act.
Bernie Sanders Medicare for All Act would propose to eliminate the involvement of the private sector of healthcare with the exception of the sale of healthcare benefits not already included in the the Medicare for All Act and virtually abandon the multi-payer system as a whole.
An additional issue with the implementation for the Medicare for All Act is the funding. Americans are notoriously not the biggest fans of tax increases and Bernie Sanders is proposing just that. The enactment of this bill would cost trillions of dollars and Americans are not too fond of seeing this come out of their paycheck.
While there seems to be a lot of things to work through before we are at a place to really implement this bill, in regards to universal healthcare, it is a step in the right direction and even if this bill does not get passed, the publicity surrounding the bill itself has created a great amount of dialogue around the massive issue of healthcare in the United States. If there is one thing everyone can definitively agree on, it is that something needs to change and continuing dialogue and the presence of this issue in the media will help ensure that changes are made.
To keep up with the actions around this bill click here!
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