Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who vies for the Democratic presidential nomination, has expressed his support for a single-payer health care system at a rally on Capitol Hill on Thursday, the 50th anniversary of Medicare.
Sanders, who has called for the universal expansion of the social assistance program, first made the announcement a day before in a speech live-streamed to 3500 meetings of campaign volunteers and repeated his position, which separates him from his rivals for the party nomination, on the Thursday rally.
The event was organized by National Nurses United and participated by members of other labor unions. Here, Sanders indicated his plans to introduce a legislation that would make health care a right.
"The time has come to say that we need to expand Medicare to cover every man, woman and child." -Sen. Sanders pic.twitter.com/z1JHpNgnAH
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 30, 2015
Medicare was signed into law by then President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 and is available to those age 65 and older, as well as younger people who have disabilities. Events were staged across the country to commemorate the 50th year of the launch.
Sanders has criticized insurances and pharmaceutical companies for inflating healthcare costs saying that a single-payer system could reduce costs by negotiating the price of medications with manufacturers, something that Medicare is currently prohibited to do.
The senator has likewise responded to the assertion of Jeb Bush, the Republican contender for the presidential nomination, who said that he wanted to phase out Medicare.
"As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Medicare, it is important that we defend this enormously important program rather than talk about ending it," Sanders said in a statement released on July 23. "Medicare provides health care to 51 million American seniors and people with disabilities and has saved the lives of countless Americans."
Sander's position is not new but it can be attributed for his appeal to the Democratic Party's progressive wing and may possibly factor in deliberations over the Democratic presidential primary endorsement.
Although Sanders is considered as wild card given that former first lady Hillary Clinton is being regarded as the party's front-runner, Sanders appears to have better chances at being the next President compared with the most popular Republican candidate at this time.
Results of a Quinnipiac University poll that was released on Thursday revealed that Sanders would defeat Donald trump by five percentage points.
