Bernie Sanders: His Plan for American Healthcare

Back in 2015, the world was introduced to Bernie Sanders, the junior United States Senator from Vermont. He’s mostly known for his lofty goals concerning a bill called Medicare for All.

Initially, the term was coined to describe a healthcare system in which all Americans would gain access to health insurance through the government’s Medicare system, not just those who currently qualify. “Good news is, before I ran for president, in 2016, (Medicare for all) was considered to be a wild and crazy idea,” Sanders told Wolf Blitzer in a CNN town hall in February. “Today, a significant majority of the people support that concept.”

Now that Bernie Sanders is running for the presidential bid in 2020, the term is back in the news and has been a hot button issue for virtually all of the candidates. While there are no major politicians speaking against the bill, it’s important to note that when they use the term, it could mean something different from what Sanders is proposing. For example, an expansion of the current benefits with the same co-payments, deductibles and premiums could also be thought of as “Medicare for all.”

What Bernie Sanders Is Proposing

Sanders’ plan would expand Medicare to cover all Americans not only changing the structure of the program to include more services, but it would also eliminate most deductibles and co-payments. This would effectively change private health insurance as we know it as the new plan would cover everyone and everything. Clearly, this is cause for concerns for many who wonder where the funds to cover such a major reform overhaul. Bernie released a document called “Options To Cover Medicare-For-All” which lays out where he believes the money could come from which break down in four parts.

Options to Save Families and Businesses on Health Care Expenses

• 7.5 percent income-based premium paid by employers
  • Revenue raised: $3.9 trillion over ten years.
• 4 percent income-based premium paid by households
  • Revenue raised: $3.5 trillion over ten years.
• Savings from Health Tax Expenditures
  • Revenue raised: $4.2 trillion over ten years.

Options to Make the Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share

• Make the Personal Income Tax More Progressive
  • Revenue raised: $1.8 trillion over ten years.
• Make the Estate Tax More Progressive
  • Revenue raised: $249 billion over ten years.
• Establish a Wealth Tax on the Top 0.1 percent
  • Revenue raised: $1.3 trillion over ten years
• Close the Gingrich-Edwards Loophole and Create Parity for Wealthy Business Owners
  • Revenue raised: $247 billion over ten years.

Options to Make Wall Street and Large, Profitable Corporation Pay Their Fair Share

• Impose a one-time tax on currently held offshore profits
  • Revenue raised: $767 billion over ten years.
• Impose a Fee on Large Financial Institutions
  • Revenue raised: $117 billion over ten years.
• Repeal Corporate Accounting Gimmicks
  • Revenue raised: $112 billion ten years.

While the future is hazy on what will actually be the state of Medicare, we can help with what it is now. Speak to a licensed agent today at (877) 829-1109.