{"id":45209,"date":"2025-11-19T12:37:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T20:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45209"},"modified":"2025-11-19T12:37:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T20:37:54","slug":"short-of-medicare-for-all-sanders-offers-democrats-6-other-ways-to-tackle-healthcare-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/short-of-medicare-for-all-sanders-offers-democrats-6-other-ways-to-tackle-healthcare-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Short of Medicare for All, Sanders Offers Democrats 6 Other Ways to Tackle Healthcare Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Sen.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks at an impromptu press conference in Washington, DC on November 5, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Nathan Posner\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are a number of much-needed reforms to the healthcare system that we could offer now that would substantially improve the lives of the American people and are also incredibly popular.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nov 18, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Americans face soaring health insurance premiums and a vote to extend expiring Affordable Care Act<\/a> subsidies looms, Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> argued in a Tuesday letter<\/a> to Democratic lawmakers that \u201cit is imperative that we all support that legislation, but we must do much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressional Democrats\u2019 fight for ACA subsidies led to the longest government shutdown in US history\u2014which ended last week, after eight members of the Senate Democratic Caucus caved<\/a> without securing any guarantees. Instead, as Sanders (I-Vt.) noted, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) agreed to hold a vote on extending the tax credits no later than the second week of December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAt a time when the Republicans<\/a> have been forced to finally talk about the healthcare<\/a> crisis facing our country, it is essential that the Democratic Caucus unify behind a set of commonsense policies that will make healthcare more affordable and accessible,\u201d Sanders wrote. \u201cThe American people are paying attention. Now is the time to act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The panel\u2019s chair, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), is now pushing<\/a> President Donald Trump\u2019s proposal to encourage Americans to shift to high-deductible plans and have the government put money directly into their health savings accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat Republicans are proposing is a bad deal for hardworking Americans, but a good deal for the wealthy,\u201d Jessica Schubel, who was a healthcare adviser to former President Joe Biden<\/a>, explained<\/a> Tuesday in a Fox News<\/em> op-ed. \u201cThis new proposal could push millions into buying high-cost plans that make you pay thousands of dollars before they start paying for your care. Healthcare costs could skyrocket while undermining the entire Obamacare system\u2014putting care at risk for millions of Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanders\u2019 letter similarly warns that \u201cwhile President Trump and some other Republicans in Congress<\/a> are rightfully going after what they call \u2018the money sucking, BIG, BAD Insurance Companies,\u2019 the policies they have been discussing would make a bad situation even worse\u201d by leading to \u201cmore medical bankruptcies, more unaffordable care, and more Americans going without the healthcare they desperately need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country\u2019s current debate over ACA subsidies has sparked<\/a> fresh calls for a shift to government-funded universal healthcare, for which Sanders has long led the fight in Congress. He acknowledged that \u201cwhile I believe that the long-term solution to the healthcare crisis is Medicare for All<\/a>, and I appreciate the 16 cosponsors we have on that legislation in the Senate, and the more than 100 cosponsors we have in the House, this bill does not yet have majority support in the Democratic Caucus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe good news, however, is that there are a number of much-needed reforms to the healthcare system that we could offer now that would substantially improve the lives of the American people and are also incredibly popular,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, Sanders called for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n