April 17, 2024 – The U.S. health care system is “totally broken,” according to Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Speaking to members of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health community on April 12, Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, explained why the system doesn’t work. “This is not a system designed to provide health care to everyone in a cost-effective manner,” he said. “This is a system designed to generate huge profits for insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and many other industries within the system.”
Mr. Sanders gave a speech. studio events They filled Kresge Auditorium at the Harvard Chan School. The lecture, which was also streamed online, was moderated by Sarah Bleich, professor of public health policy at the Harvard Chan School and vice provost for special projects at Harvard University.
Sanders outlined the problems plaguing U.S. health care, noting that the country spends $13,000 per person on health care each year, twice as much as comparable countries. He pointed out that his health condition had deteriorated significantly. Nationwide, 85 million people are uninsured or underinsured. People in the United States pay more for prescription drugs than people in other parts of the world. And approximately 60,000 Americans die each year due to lack of timely medical care.
The United States lags not only compared to other high-income countries, but also in life expectancy. “Our life expectancy is significantly lower than in many other countries around the world, including countries like Portugal, where we spend only a fraction of what we spend on health care,” Sanders said. Ta. He added: “Low-income and working-class people in this country will live 10 years less than people with money.” In other words, poverty in America is a death sentence. ”
He cited other problems with the system, including the massive medical debt that bankrupts 500,000 Americans each year, the lack of access to health care in rural areas and the closure of rural hospitals, and the massive mental health crisis. .
“All of this is almost unbelievable to me,” Sanders said. “That would be explained if we were a poor country. We’re not the richest country on earth. … We don’t have enough doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, mental health counselors, dentists. We don’t have enough pharmacists. We don’t have enough. There is a serious crisis for public health workers.”
He added that medical students can face staggering debts of up to $400,000 to $500,000 for their education. New physicians facing such debt are likely to choose higher-paying specialties over rural primary care jobs where clinicians are needed.
Sanders called it “insane” that people’s health insurance is usually tied to employment, creating a system in which low-wage workers receive substandard health care. criticized. And if people lose their jobs, as many have done during the pandemic, they could also lose their health insurance, he said.
“Healthcare is a human right”
In the long term, Sanders wants to see a single-payer Medicare for All system in the U.S., but he acknowledged that the country’s current politics does not favor such a major change, and Democrats Senate colleagues call on the plan they proposed with Expanding Medicare eligibility Slowly over time, you’ll eventually be able to cover everyone.
He believes that to effectively resolve the country’s health system problems, “we must resolve that health care is a human right, not a privilege.” Its role is to ensure quality health care for all people, regardless of income, not to make huge profits for insurance and pharmaceutical companies. ”
He added that the health care debate is “not about health care, it’s about economics and politics and who gets what.” …Can the government actually respond to the needs of people who are hurting when it comes to health care? Or will we continue to fall prey to the power of big profits? ”
In response to Mr. Bleich’s question about the high cost of prescription drugs, Mr. Sanders suggested possible solutions by working with drug companies. Another idea would be to offer prize money to pharmaceutical companies in lieu of patents. and that if drug companies develop successful drugs with the help of NIH-funded research, those drugs should be made available to people around the world at negotiated and reasonable prices. Sanders said.
Bleich also asked about Sanders’ recently proposed long-term coronavirus “moonshot” bill. The proposal calls for $10 billion over the next 10 years for a new long-term coronavirus research program at the National Institutes of Health. In addition to the funding, Sander also sent a message to the 20 million Americans who have been living with COVID-19 for a long time: “You are not alone, and we understand that your suffering is real.” He said it was important to let people know that.
At the end of the program, Bleich posed questions from students to Sanders. One student asked Sanders to identify the most important action people can take right now to encourage change in health care policy.
“Expose the system how dysfunctional, wasteful, and deadly it is,” Sanders responded. “We need all of you to understand that we are at war here and we have very special interests that don’t care if people live or die. Speak up. , we must be prepared to confront them.” He added, “In my opinion, if we work together, we can build the country as I know it.” .
– Karen Felscher
Photo: Ben Gebo
