The Democratic presidential candidates remain deeply divided on how to expand healthcare to the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have both pushed for abolishing private health insurance and establishing a Medicare for All system. Their rivals have pushed a number of different, more incremental approaches. During the first night of the latest debates, Sanders pointed out that the country has taken sweeping action before to expand health coverage to millions of Americans, referring to the 50th anniversary of the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. We speak with Janet Golden, professor emerita at Rutgers University-Camden and a historian of U.S. medicine, and Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive.
Wednesday was a historic day in the U.S. struggle for universal health care as key Senate Democrats joined Sen. Bernie Sanders to unveil a single-payer bill. We speak to economist Dean Baker and Saikat Chakrabarti of Brand New Congress
Senator Bernie Sanders is wasting no time rejoicing after the Senate repeal of The Affordable Care Act failed, and he announced that he would be introducing single-payer healthcare legislation in the very near future. Some Democrats have signaled that they are on board, and though Republicans likely won’t support it, this could show the public that the Democrats are serious about making single-payer a reality. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.
