The TRUTH really has a way of revealing itself, and in many times, those who intend to undermine it become instrumental in actually putting the spotlight on what the public needs to know.
In this case, I am talking about the clamor of most Americans to have “Medicare for All,” pushed by former presidential candidate Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for decades.
Standing on the principle that HEALTH CARE is a RIGHT of ALL Americans, and not just a privilege for a few, Sanders’ push for universal health care has been met by strong corporate opposition who wants to continue with making money out of health care, which has caused so many American families file for bankruptcy in this richest and most powerful country that is America.
Corporate giants and the people they lobby and donate campaign contributions to in both the Republican and Democratic Parties contend that America cannot afford “Medicare for All” because it will just be too costly and America cannot afford it.
One of the richest of the rich Americans who wish to undermine the growing support for “Medicare for All” are right-wing billionaires Charles and David Koch, who even funded a study conducted by George Mason University-based Mercatus Center.
The results of the study that corporate America wanted to highlight was that Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) widely popular “Medicare for All” plan would cost $32.6 trillion over the next decade.
However, the analysis of such report revealed something that the Koch Brothers would find to be counter to their intent of funding such a study.
As Matt Bruenig of the People’s Policy Project notes—though absent or buried in much of the initial reporting—even the Koch brothers’ numbers, which Sanders says are vastly inflated, demonstrate that the “U.S. could insure 30 million more Americans and virtually eliminate out-of-pocket healthcare expenses” while saving “a whopping $2 trillion” in the process.
In response to the study, Sanders wrote:
“Let me thank the Koch brothers for sponsoring a study that shows that Medicare for All would save the American people $2 trillion over a 10-year period. I suspect that that is not what you intended to do, but that is what is in the study of the Mercatus Center—an organization that you significantly fund.
“At a time when the United States spends far more per capita on health care than any other country on earth, almost 18 percent of our GDP, a Medicare-for-all health care system would save the average family significant sums of money. The time is long overdue for the United States to join every other industrialized country and guarantee health care to all in a cost-effective manner.”
Will you support “Medicare for ALL”?
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
