Approach Analysis- Susan Baker

I am going to be analyzing Bernie Sanders’ approach to affordable health care. I am going to

look at the parts of it that would work and those that would not in practice, and for part four
create a proposal that will amend those pieces that are dysfunctional. The website I am using to
analyze his approach is from Bernie’s website, under “Medicare for All”. I am going to also be
using other sources to deeper analyze the proposal, all will be cited in my bibliography.

“Incredibly, we spend significantly more of our national GDP on this inadequate health
care system—far more per person than any other major country. And despite doing so,
Americans have worse health outcomes and a higher infant mortality rate than countries
that spend much less on health care.”

This isn’t necessarily a part of his approach to healthcare but I think its a very sound
argument from him on why we should have a nationally available healthcare- somehow we’re at
a disadvantage compared to other countries despite spending more money on healthcare than
them.

“We should be spending money on doctors, nurses, mental health specialists, dentists,
and other professionals who provide services to people and improve their lives. We must
invest in the development of new drugs and technologies that cure disease and alleviate
pain—not wasting hundreds of billions of dollars a year on profiteering, huge executive
compensation packages, and outrageous administrative costs.”

In this paragraph Bernie is proposing that instead of upping the price of healthcare
because of things such as administrative costs, we need to focus the money on improving care
from physicians and the development of healthcare technology.

“The giant pharmaceutical and health insurance lobbies have spent ​billions​ of dollars
over the past decades to ensure that their profits come before the health of the American
people. We must defeat them, together. That means: Joining every other major country
on Earth and guaranteeing health care to all people a right, not a privilege, through a
Medicare-for-all, single-payer program.”

Bernie points out the amount that health insurance companies spend to ensure profit- he
wants to guarantee health care as a right for everyone through a single payer program. A single
payer program is a system of healthcare in which the government completely regulates it,
removing private insurers completely and insuring health care to all by paying health care costs
from tax dollars.

“​And to lower the prices of prescription drugs now, we need to:

Allow Medicare to negotiate with the big drug companies to lower prescription
drug prices with Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act.”
 Bernie is saying that this healthcare will lower prescription drug prices using the
Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act. The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act was a bill
proposed by Bernie on January 10th of this year, and is proposed to allow Medicare to
negotiate a lower charge on prescription drugs for those using Medicare (​Klobuchar)​.

“Allow patients, pharmacists, and wholesalers to buy low-cost prescription drugs

from Canada and other industrialized countries with the Affordable and Safe
Prescription Drug Importation Act.”

This would allow patients, pharmacists & wholesalers to purchase prescription

drugs from industrialized countries at a low price, using the Affordable and Safe Drug
Importation Act. The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act is an act
introduced on February 28th 2017 and “​ ​amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act to require the Food and Drug Administration... ...permitting wholesalers, pharmacies,
and individuals to import certain prescription drugs from Canada… ...within two years,
may permit the importation of prescription drugs from other countries.” (Sanders, 115)
This would allow us to purchase low-price prescription drugs.

Cut prescription drug prices in ​half​, with the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, by
pegging prices to the median drug price in five major countries: Canada, the
United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan.

Bernie is stating that Medicare would bring prices of prescription drugs to the average
price in Canada, the UK, France, Germany and Japan, via the Prescription Drug Price
Relief Act. The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act was introduced by congress on
January 10th of this year and acts to do the following; “...t​he bill requires the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review at least annually all brand-name drugs
for excessive pricing, HHS must also review prices upon petition. If any such drugs are
found to be excessively priced, HHS must (1) void any government-granted exclusivity;
(2) issue open, nonexclusive licenses for the drugs; and (3) expedite the review of
corresponding applications for generic drugs and biosimilar biological products. HHS
must also create a public database with its determinations for each drug.” (Sanders, 116)
This bill is essentially meant to punish pharmacies that excessively charge for a drug, as
well as make it an appropriate price again. Bernie would use this to lower the national,
appropriate price for these drugs in order to bring that price to the average of those five
major countries.
What I love:

● Dismantles private insurers who have complete dictation of what they do and don’t
cover.
● Dismantles private insurers who are unaffordable for lower class people and minorities
● Allows people with disabilities beyond their control an affordable way to get prescription
drugs, often those needed to live.
● Allows the US to make progress into affordable health care that many developed
countries already have.
● Dismantles the pharmacy system in the US by importing affordable drugs from countries
like Canada.

Limitations:

● Taxes are considered to be too high by many American’s standards, and it will be had to
convince middle to high class Americans to switch from a system that works for them to
a system that works for everyone because it will cost them more.
● American mentality of libertarianism (22% of the population leans towards libertarian
ideas, [Blake]), many Americans find that there is too much Government intervention
with their money as it is.
● Only 29% of Americans exist in the lower class, 71% fall into the middle and upper class
(Geewax). It will be hard to convince people to assist those in the minority to afford
health care when the majority already can.

What I’m going to apply to my proposal:

● All three acts, the ​Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, the Affordable and Safe
Prescription Drug Importation Act, and the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act are going to
be implemented into my proposal. I like what they stand for!
● A system in which a slight tax will be used to pay for medical care for all.
● Dismantling private insurers
● Lower prescription drug prices.

Work Cited:

Blake, Aaron. “Poll: 22 Percent of Americans Lean Libertarian.” ​The Washington Post​, WP
Company, 29 Apr. 2019,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/10/29/poll-22-percent-of-american
s-lean-libertarian/​.

Geewax, Marilyn. “The Tipping Point: Most Americans No Longer Are Middle Class.” ​NPR​,
NPR, 9 Dec. 2015,
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/09/459087477/the-tipping-point-most-america
ns-no-longer-are-middle-class​.
“Medicare for All.” ​Bernie Sanders - Official Campaign Website,​
https://berniesanders.com/issues/medicare-for-all/​.

Klobuchar, and Amy. “S.41 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Medicare Prescription Drug Price
Negotiation Act of 2017.” ​Congress.gov,​ 5 Jan. 2017,
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/41​.

Sanders, and Bernard. “S.469 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Affordable and Safe Prescription
Drug Importation Act.” ​Congress.gov​, 28 Feb. 2017,
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/469?q={"search":["Affordable+and+Saf
e+5+Prescription+Drug+Importation+Act"]}&r=3​.

Sanders, and Bernard. “S.102 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Prescription Drug Price Relief Act
of 2019.” ​Congress.gov,​ 10 Jan. 2019,
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/102​.