Bernie Sanders Uses Coronavirus Outbreak to Push Vision for Medicare for All

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) used the outbreak of the novel coronavirus to push his vision for Medicare for All during a rally with supporters in St. Louis, Missouri, on Monday.

“Question. How many major countries on earth do not guarantee health care to all people as a human right?” Sanders asked the crowd in St. Louis a day ahead of the state’s March 10 primary.

Sanders proceeded in praising Canada’s health care system and shifted gears to the festering concerns over the coronavirus, using it as another pitch for Medicare for All.

“And just look at the insanity dealing with this coronavirus. This very serious problem that we are dealing with in America and dealing with all over the world,” Sanders said.

“Think about the insanity of a system where today somebody wakes up and maybe they think they have the symptoms of coronavirus. Yet they cannot afford to go to a doctor,” he continued.

“What does that mean? So they’re going to go to work and make a serious epidemic even worse,” he added, reiterating his belief that health care is a “right for every man, woman, and child.”

Sanders also mentioned how the officials have been unable to guarantee that a vaccine, once developed, would be affordable and promised that, if he is elected president, “everybody in this country will get that vaccine absolutely free.”

“Is that a radical statement? I mean that is the most obvious statement that anybody can make,” he added.

Sanders admitted during an appearance on CBS Evening News in January that it is “impossible to predict” how much his various proposals, including Medicare for All, will cost.

“Do you know exactly what healthcare costs will be…in the next ten years if we do nothing?” Sanders asked. “It will be a lot more expensive than a Medicare for All single-payer system.”

Modest estimates put Sanders’ Medicare for All plan around $32 trillion over the next decade, but some estimates go as high as $60 trillion. He has admitted that his plan would result in tax hikes for middle class Americans.

Watch Sanders’ full rally below: