No Illusions in Sanders' "Medicare for All"

For Socialized Medicine!

Expropriate the Health Care Industry!

The health care industry in capitalist America is a leech feeding off the illness and ailments of working people and the poor—and not just the 30 million disproportionately black and Latino uninsured, who are bilked for everything they have, if they get treated at all. For many of those with insurance, coverage provides little protection against exorbitant bills and wrenching decisions. In 2017, over 137 million people suffered financial hardship due to medical expenses, with hospitals filing ever-more lawsuits to garnish the wages of the sick and judges jailing thousands for not appearing in court for unpaid bills. Record numbers of people are putting off needed doctor visits, medical procedures and drug purchases. The burden is immense as preventable diseases roar back to life and undertreated chronic conditions abound.

While those with means can buy world-class medical services, the bulk of the U.S. population pays considerably more for health care than people elsewhere in the industrialized world, with much less to show for it. All the while, the insurance parasites, the profit-gouging hospitals and the pharmaceutical giants are making a killing. It’s no wonder that the majority of Americans today favor some kind of government-backed health plan for everyone, a single-payer system popularly dubbed “Medicare for All.”

Bernie Sanders is closely identified with this demand, having made it central to his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, both in 2016 and again today. Last year, he introduced “Medicare for All” legislation in the Senate that would replace Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance with a single public agency to oversee the financing of health care, while leaving the delivery of care largely in private hands. A similar bill has been presented in the House by Pramila Jayapal.

Sanders and his reformist cheerleaders like Socialist Alternative present “Medicare for All” as one of the major rewards that would follow if he gets elected to high office. The lie is that a Sanders White House would be a benevolent capitalist government, that is, one supposedly defending the interests of “the people” against the robber barons of Wall Street. In reality, nothing of the sort could ever exist. Whether administered by “progressive” Democrats or right-wing Republicans, this government is the executive committee of the capitalist ruling class, the brutal exploiters who amass their profits from the blood and sweat of the workers. Under capitalism, the rulers will always seek to spend on health care the bare minimum to maintain a labor pool fit enough to exploit. They will only concede anything of significance if forced to by class and social struggle. (read on)