Supporters of government-run health care programs applaud Rep. Ro Khanna’s pushback after ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz casually dismissed Medicare-for-all as an unlikely proposal in a Sunday morning interview. did.
Khanna (D-Calif.) spoke to Raddatz days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York City. The case brought to the surface widespread, simmering anger at the for-profit health insurance industry’s denial of coverage and high deductibles. and other obstacles Americans face when trying to access both routine and emergency care.
The lawmaker said he was “not surprised” by the reaction to the murder, but after five days authorities still have not named or found a suspect in the case.
“So people are being denied cancer treatment,” Khanna says. “It’s absurd in this country, what’s going on.”
Raddatz said Khanna reposted a message from Sen. Bernie Sanders (R-Va.) last week on social media platform %) pointed out the exorbitant expenditure on , or as much as $1 trillion a year.
“‘Healthcare is a human right. We need Medicare for all,'” Raddatz read, before adding her own perspective. “That’s not really going to happen. So what do you say to Americans who are frustrated right now?”
Khanna quickly hit back, saying he believed Sanders was “absolutely right.”
“I believe we can achieve Medicare for All,” said Sanders, the billionaire Tesla founder whom President-elect Donald Trump has named to head a proposed organization called the Department of Government Efficiency. In response to Elon Musk, Sanders pointed out that he is criticizing the high level of health insurance system. Last week’s medical administration costs.
This spending is much higher than the 2% that Medicare spends on administration and results in lower life expectancy, more preventable deaths, higher infant and maternal mortality rates, and other health harms.
The skepticism of for-profit health care by one of President Trump’s closest right-wing allies reflects public support for Medicare for All across political lines.
In 2020, a Gallup poll found that 63% of Americans support a single national health care plan that provides insurance for all Americans, including a third of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. 1 or more, including 88% of Democrats. Another 2018 American Barometer poll found that 52% of Republicans support Medicare for All.
Khanna said Musk’s comments show that “after all these years, Sanders has finally won this debate and we should move towards universal health care.”
Kenneth Zinn, former political director of National Nurses United, said, “Who would say Martha Raddatz would buy Medicare, which would cost $650 billion less than the current for-profit system, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis?” ” he asked. It won’t actually happen. ”
“This is how the corporate media tries to shut down the debate and narrow the focus. The vast majority of Americans support Medicare for All,” Jin said.
The Leverage’s David Sirota praises Khanna’s “direct pushback” against the commonly held assumption that it is impossible to expand the popular and efficient Medicare program to all Americans. did.
“The media in Washington, D.C., is claiming that nothing should happen,” he said. “This is a Jedi mind trick of the press corps. Law called it bullshit, but it’s the right response. (Medicare for all) won’t happen overnight, but eventually may come true.”
Despite the fact that in 2019 it was revealed that the United States spends twice as much per capita on health care than the rest of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Khanna himself , blasted “Beltway critics” who dismissed Medicare for All as “unrealistic and too expensive.”
“Well made, congressman,” former Ohio Sen. Nina Turner said Sunday. “The United States is the only developed country without universal health care. Not having Medicare for all is immoral, unacceptable, and costly.”
