Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., conceded Sunday his Medicare for all plan would likely cost $32 trillion — but that the nation’s current healthcare system clocks in at $50 trillion.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Sanders, one of the leading contenders for president in the Democratic primary field, said “Medicare for all will be less expensive than continuing the current dysfunctional health care system.”
“The number $32 trillion… is roughly probably right,” he said of a Medicare for all plan. “That sounds like a lot of money, but do you know what happens if we keep the current system, which is the most wasteful and expensive system in the world? Estimates of the cost will be $50 trillion…Medicare for all will be less expensive than continuing the current dysfunctional health care system.”
He also insisted people like their doctors and hospitals — not their insurance company.
“Medicare itself is health insurance program, it's far, far more popular than our private insurance companies,” he said. “People don't like insurance companies, they like their doctors and they like their hospitals. And we maintain that. …And right now… it may cost you a fortune to go to the doctor you want if he or she is not in the same plan.”
Sanders also touted his standing in recent polls — and says he’s better positioned to beat President Donald Trump than other candidates in November 2020.
“Polls go up and polls go down,” he said, noting the most recent Fox News poll shows he outpolled Trump “fairly decisively.”
“I think, frankly, I am the strongest candidate to defeat Trump,” he said. “I think we can win in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan and some of the other battleground states and that's a fight that I look forward to.”
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