On Medicare's birthday, Bernie Sanders reiterates his support for single-payer, Medicare-for-all

Folks, there is nothing more barbaric and cruel -- not to mention wasteful of tax dollars -- than the American health care non-system.

So, today, on the 50th birthday of Medicare, it was refreshing to see Bernie Sanders renew his call for America to move to a single-payer, Medicare-for-all system -- for all Americans, not just the elderly.

Health care is, indeed, a human right, he declared.

There is no human right that I know, that is more important, than to say loudly and clearly, health care is a right of all people, not a privilege.

All of the pundits always tell us what we cannot accomplish until the day after we accomplish it.

It is time that we bring about a fundamental transformation of the American health care system.
https://t.co/...

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 30, 2015

Folks, while I'm delighted by the success of the Affordable Care Act, the fact remains that under the ACA, health care remains a privilege and not a right. If you cannot afford health insurance -- and, remember, insurance does not even guarantee access to affordable health care -- you are provided with an exemption to the mandate. That is not universal health care -- not even if we are comparing the ACA to the mandate-based systems in the Netherlands and Switzerland. And America can do better.

Bernie has a plan to bring true universal health care to America. It is a plan that will cover everyone -- end insane deductibles and co-insurance that bankrupt families or force them to "play doctor" and decide if a fever warrants a wallet-busting emergency room visit -- and a plan that will save taxpayers $400 billion a year, as the United States government finally would have the bargaining power to discipline greedy for-profit hospital chains and drug companies.

Hillary Clinton, however, simply states we need to "defend the Affordable Care Act and reduce health costs." That, my friends, is not a plan that seems to speak to the utter urgency of ensuring all Americans can access health care without going broke.

I'm very pleased that Bernie celebrated the importance of Medicare today on its birthday -- a vital component of America's welfare state -- and delighted that he reiterated his strong support for expanding access to this awesome government program to all Americans.