Senator Bernie Sanders is reaching out to all who may support Medicare for All. In Fortune magazine today, Bernie explains why Medicare for All is good for business. After noting that Obamacare has helped but not solved the health care crisis, Bernie points that “ we have the most expensive, inefficient, and bureaucratic health care system in the world.” And yet, we still have 28 million uninsured. There is a huge negative human impact of our failing system. There’s also an economic impact, and both business and workers suffer that impact:
Not only is our dysfunctional health care system causing unnecessary suffering and financial stress for millions of low- and middle-income families, it is also having a very negative impact on our economy and the business community—especially small- and medium-sized companies. Private businesses spent $637 billion on private health insurance in 2015 and are projected to spend $1.059 trillion in 2025.
But it’s not just the heavy financial cost of health care that the business community is forced to bear. It is time and energy. Instead of focusing on their core business goals, small- and medium-sized businesses are forced to spend an inordinate amount of time, energy, and resources trying to navigate an incredibly complex system in order to get the most cost-effective coverage possible for their employees.
Fortune: "Bernie Sanders: Why Medicare-for-All Is Good for Business"
In fact, employers who do the right thing are often at a competitive disadvantage to those who do not. Fortune (“Why are some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America, like Walmart, receiving massive subsidies from the federal government because their inadequate benefits force many of their employees to go on Medicaid? “). When a business looked into what it was paying, it found that “fully 33 cents of every health care premium dollar ... was being spent on administrative costs.” Id.
There already is some business support for single payer:
The American Sustainable Business Council, a business advocacy organization, started a campaign in April in support of single-payer health care. To date, more than 170 business leaders have signed on to this initiative in more than 30 states.
Here is what these business leaders have written:
“All supporters of the campaign believe that a single-payer health care system, which is what the vast majority of the industrialized world embraces, will deliver significant cost-savings, in large part by eliminating the wasteful practices of the insurance industry that are designed for financial advantage.”
Fortune
Bernie sums up by saying that health care for all is the morally right thing and good for the economy, including the business community:
In my view, health care for all is a moral issue. No American should die or suffer because they lack the funds to get adequate health care. But it is more than that. A Medicare-for-all single-payer system will be good for the economy and the business community.
Fortune
Medicare for All is not a fantasy or radical idea. It is an idea whose time has come.
Update I: If you are in the Detroit area, Bernie will be doing a town hall with progressive legend Congressman John Conyers tomorrow about MFA at 7:00 p.m. at the Fellowship Chapel Church, 7707 W. Outer Drive, Detroit, MI 48235.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders joins U.S. Congressman John Conyers for a town hall on jobs, healthcare, and our economic future.
This event is free and open to the public.
Town Hall with U.S. Congressman John Conyers - Detroit, Michigan