Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Government
September 13, 2017 01:00 AM

Sanders unveils single-payer healthcare bill

Shelby Livingston
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday unveiled legislation that would dramatically reshape the American healthcare system into one where most people get their insurance from a single government-run health plan instead of the private health insurance market.

    Sanders' bill, the Medicare for All Act of 2017, is co-sponsored by 16 Democratic senators. It proposes to move the country toward a single-payer healthcare system, which Sanders said would expand comprehensive coverage to every family and reduce the nation's healthcare spending. The single-payer concept was the cornerstone of Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.

    The bill was introduced the same day four Republican senators unveiled a proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act by giving states $1.2 trillion in subsidies and letting them design their own coverage systems with few limitations.

    The Medicare for All bill would establish a national health insurance program called the Universal Medicare Program. The expanded Medicare program would cover services including hospital and ambulatory care, primary care, preventive services, mental health and substance abuse services, and prescription drug costs. It would also cover reproductive, maternity and newborn care, as well as abortions.

    Premiums, copayments and deductibles paid to private health insurance companies would be eliminated. Employers, Sanders said, would be free to run their businesses without worrying about providing health coverage to employees. Patients would be able to choose their doctors and hospitals without considering if the provider is in their network.

    The transition to the program would occur over four years. In the first year, the eligibility age to enroll in Medicare would be lowered to 55. Benefits for seniors would expand to include dental care, vision coverage and hearing aids. Additionally, all children under the age of 18 would be covered. The eligibility age would be lowered to 45 in the second year and 35 in the third year. By the fourth year, all individuals would be covered by the program.

    Sanders, an independent from Vermont, also said that under the Medicare for All system, the government would negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug costs.

    Important questions remain about the price tag and how the program would be funded. The Urban Institute think tank last year estimated that a previous version of Sanders' plan released during his presidential campaign would have increased federal spending by $32 trillion over 10 years.

    Sanders said Americans would ultimately pay less for healthcare. "Under Medicare for All, the average American family will be much better off financially than under the current system because you will no longer be writing checks to private insurance companies," he said during an event in Washington on Wednesday to introduce the legislation. "While, depending on your income, your taxes may go up to pay for this publicly funded program, that expense will be more than offset by the money you are saving by the elimination of private insurance costs."

    The co-sponsors of the bill include Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

    The legislation is largely symbolic and is meant to drum up public support for a single-payer system. Its introduction faces a steep uphill battle, and Sanders and his supporters acknowledge it will be easily defeated in the Republican-controlled Congress.

    "Our opponents on this issue have the money, and they have the power," Sanders said Wednesday. "But if millions of people across this country stand up and get involved in the political process and fight back, I have no doubt, none whatsoever, that this nation sooner than people believe will in fact pass a Medicare-for-all single-payer system."

    The bill will face fierce opposition from private health insurers, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Early Wednesday, ahead of the introduction of Sanders' bill, the insurance industry's lobbying group, America's Health Insurance Plans, came out swinging against single-payer proposals, while acknowledging it didn't have any of the bills' specifics.

    In a statement, AHIP Executive Vice President David Merritt stressed the importance of building on "proven" private market solutions to handle rising healthcare costs, and urged against adopting "theoretical, one-size-fits-all approaches."

    "Whether it's called single-payer or Medicare for All, government-controlled healthcare cannot work," Merritt said. "It will eliminate choice, undermine quality, put a chill on medical innovation and place an even heavier burden on hardworking taxpayers.

    At the same time, supporters of Medicare for All point out that the concept of a single-payer system—once a fringe issue—is gaining steam in the wake of Republicans' failed attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

    "What we've seen coming out of the Affordable Care Act fight is a real grass-roots movement expressing both peoples' fury with the existing heath system and its inadequacy and how it affects them personally, but also a real widespread public demand for a system that operates by a different value system, one where we all take care of each other and where healthcare is a right," argued Robert Weismann, president of Public Citizen, a not-for-profit consumer advocacy organization, which held a discussion Tuesday on the merits of single-payer.

    Congressional support for single-payer is growing. More than 60% of House Democrats, or 117 cosponsors, have endorsed a Medicare-for-all bill introduced in January by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.)

    A little more than half of the public said they now favor a single-payer healthcare, while 43% said they opposed it, a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found. The poll of 1,208 U.S. adults over age 18 was conducted by phone in June.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    abortion-pill-misoprostol-legal
    Abortion pill case advances to appeals court, on course to Supreme Court
    young doctor medical resident
    Federal physician recruitment program at risk
    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare Alert: Sign up for this breaking news email to be kept in the loop as urgent healthcare business news unfolds.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing