Dear Friend,

This week I will be campaigning in Texas, Nevada and Michigan to do everything I can to see that Donald Trump is defeated and Kamala Harris becomes our next president. And while I’m on the campaign trail I will be talking about an issue that is getting far too little discussion. And that is the need to transform our current health care system — which is broken, dysfunctional and cruel — and join the rest of the industrialized world in guaranteeing health care to all as a human right.

If you observe the ferocity with which Republicans and some Democrats defend the insurance companies and drug companies, you'd think the United States has a health care system that produces excellent, low-cost outcomes for our people.

You would think that Americans can get the care they need when they need it, the medicine they need at an affordable cost, and that they are living long, healthy and happy lives compared to our peers in other countries.

But if you thought that, you'd be very wrong.

According to a recent study by the Commonwealth Fund — a non-profit research organization that strives to improve health care in the U.S. — the United States ranks 10 out of 10 compared to other wealthy nations.

And not the good 10 out of 10.

That is the last out of 10.

The study found what many of us already know. Despite our huge expenditures on health care the United States has, in many respects, the worst health care system among wealthy nations. Today, we have almost 30 million people who are uninsured and many more who are underinsured with high deductibles, co-payments and out-of-pocket expenses. Further, despite spending over $13,500 per capita on health care, we have the shortest life expectancy of any of the 10 countries included in the survey.

In other words, the United States pays more per capita for health care than any other country in the world, yet we get worse outcomes.

Not great.

I understand that there is a lot going on in the world today, and in this election.

But the issue of health care is always on peoples’ minds because, by definition, it touches every single one of us - from birth to death.

Think about it:

Every year in this country, tens of thousands of Americans die because they are uninsured or under-insured and don’t get to a doctor when they should.

Every year in this country, millions of Americans are unable to getting the prompt, quality care they deserve because of a major shortage of doctors, nurses, dentists, mental health counselors and other health care professionals.

Every year in this country, hundreds of thousands of Americans declare bankruptcy because of medical-related expenses. Incredibly, 25% of patients being treated for cancer either go bankrupt or deplete their savings.

Every year in this country, millions of workers remain on the jobs that they have not because they enjoy their work, but because they fear losing the health insurance their families need.

Every year in this country, one out of four Americans cannot afford to fill the prescriptions their doctors’ write because of outrageously high prices.

Every day in this country, families worry that they are one medical emergency away from a catastrophe.

Unless you are rich. Then the current system works just fine.

Today, the top one percent of Americans live 15 years longer than the poorest people in our society and study after study has shown that working class people live far shorter lives than the wealthy.

Do you think this issue is on the top of voters' minds heading into the election?

Of course it is.

And that is why I will continue to fight for a Medicare for All single payer health care system.

But oh, Bernie the costs. The costs! The whining and moaning from people who want to spend trillions of dollars on weapons and war, but can't fathom paying the cost to save lives instead of taking them.

Would a Medicare-for-all health care system be expensive? Yes.

But, while providing comprehensive health care for all, it would be significantly LESS expensive than our current dysfunctional system because it would eliminate an enormous amount of the bureaucracy, profiteering, administrative costs and misplaced priorities inherent in our current for-profit system.

Remember: We currently pay twice as much for health care as do the people of virtually any other country – all of which provide universal health care.

So, yes, we can provide quality of care for all at a much lower cost per person.

Under Medicare for All, there would no longer be armies of people billing us, telling us what is covered and what is not covered and hounding us to pay our hospital bills. Under Medicare for All we could focus on disease prevention, not the need for outrageous profits for the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry.

All of this not only saves substantial sums of money but will make life a lot easier for the American people who would never again have to fight their way through the nightmare of insurance company bureaucracy.

Medicare for All will save the average family thousands of dollars a year.

In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that Medicare for All would save Americans almost $700 billion a year.

The struggle for Medicare for All will not be easy. We’re taking on the greed and power of the entire medical “industry” that make hundreds of billions a year profiting from this broken system. We’re taking on the massive amount of campaign contributions that go to politicians who defend their interests, as well as thousands of well-paid lobbyists who flood congressional offices.

Guaranteeing health care to all Americans as a human right would be a transformative moment for our country.

It would not only keep people healthier, happier and increase life expectancy, it would be a major step forward in creating a more vibrant democracy.

Let us continue the struggle to create a nation in which we focus on the basic needs of all of us, not maximizing the wealth and profits of the few.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

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