LOS ANGELES — As America grapples with its first case of coronavirus caught by someone who hasn’t traveled to China recently, Bernie Sanders believes his healthcare plan could be the cure.
Sanders’s Medicare for All proposal is the cornerstone of his second presidential run, with its pledge to eliminate private health insurance in favor of a government program. According to the Vermont senator, every person residing in the country would be entitled to universal healthcare coverage with no copays or deductibles.
And with chances of the virus becoming a global pandemic growing, Sanders says the time has never been more prescient for his proposal.
“If America ends up, with major supply chain disruptions like China has had, a related stock market decline (already underway), and other adverse economic impacts, how voters, as taxpayers, weigh the costs versus benefits of ‘Medicare for all’ proposals could easily change — and become less favorable to defenders of the status quo,” said Sanders supporter Steve Early, a co-founder of “Labor for Bernie.”
Sanders, in a Thursday statement, blasted the Trump administration for appointing Vice President Mike Pence to oversee the country’s response to the virus.
“We need a president who does not play politics with our health and national security. Besides passing Medicare for All so everyone can see a doctor or get a vaccine for free, my administration will greatly expand funding for the Center for Disease Control and National Institute of Health, work with the international community, including with the World Health Organization, and invest in research and technology to make vaccines available quickly,” Sanders said.
Sanders supporters quickly echoed the comments, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said the lack of mandated paid sick leave means the infected could put colleagues at risk in office settings.
“I can’t tell you how many times the people who handle your food — who are already overworked and underpaid — show up sick to work because our country refuses to guarantee healthcare or paid sick leave. We need #MedicareForAll,” the New York Democrat tweeted Thursday.
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And Sanders backers grew incensed when Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the government wouldn’t take steps to ensure a potential coronavirus vaccine was affordable for everyone.
“We would want to ensure that we’d work to make it affordable,” Azar said during a congressional hearing Wednesday. “But we can’t control that price because we need the private sector to invest. Price controls won’t get us there.”
The coronavirus has killed nearly 3,000 people so far globally. Over 80,000 confirmed cases have been reported worldwide, with 60 in the United States.
“Under the Trump doctrine, if you are wealthy, you can buy a vaccine and not succumb to the sickness,” Sanders said in a statement. “If you are poor or working class, you may have to get sick or even die. That is an outrage. That is unacceptable. We need a vaccine that is available to all.”
Support for Medicare for All remains relatively unpopular nationally. A Fox News poll released Thursday found that only 42% of voters favor getting rid of private insurance and moving to a completely government-run program. A far greater number of respondents, 67%, said they supported giving the public the option to buy into Medicare if they choose, similar to plans proposed by former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Sanders’s plan is estimated to cost upward of $30 trillion over the next decade and would be funded through various tax hikes. Its proponents say the plan is ultimately cheaper than the current healthcare system and would result in long-term savings for both the government and the public.
