Bernie Sanders teases plan to eliminate billions in medical debt

[Uncle Joe]

Last edited Sat Aug 31, 2019, 09:29 AM - Edit history (1)

(snip)

The plan, which the Sanders campaign says would cancel $81 billion in existing past-due medical debt and make changes to the 2005 bankruptcy bill, is not expected to be released in its entirety for another month. The proposal -- which is still in the works, separate from the senator's "Medicare for All" plan and meant to address debt under the current system -- does not explicitly state how Sanders will eliminate medical debt, but says, "under this plan, the federal government will negotiate and pay off past-due medical bills in collection that have been reported to credit agencies."

(snip)

"We're looking at that right now," Sanders responded. "In another piece of legislation that we're going to be offering we will eliminate medical debt in this country. I mean, just stop and think for a second. Why should people be placed in financial duress? For what crime did you commit? You got a serious illness? That is not what this country should be about."

(snip)

The one-page overview cites medical debt as "the leading cause of consumer bankruptcy," and states: "We are sick and tired of seeing 530,000 Americans declare bankruptcy each year because they cannot pay off the outrageous cost of a medical emergency or a hospital stay."

(snip)

"In the midst of a dysfunctional health care system, what we have got to do is say that you cannot go bankrupt. You cannot end up in financial distress, because you're terribly sick. That's cruel, and that is something we've got to end," Sanders said.


https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/31/politics/bernie-sanders-plan-eliminate-billions-medical-debt/index.html

The brilliant part of this strategy is that should the Republicans argue that Bernie is just trying to be Santa Claus, it undercuts their "War against Christmas" meme.

[democratisphere]

1. I don't know where BS comes up with this BS stuff.

Some will say anything for a vote. So we'll just transfer medical debt to the National Debt. Brilliant.

[Uncle Joe]

2. Yes, like stating or implying that people's health coverage is at risk from Medicare for All.

"Some will say anything for a vote."

[LincolnRossiter]

11. My main gripe with the progressive wing of the party...

Promise the world. We’ll give everyone everything they want (we’re up to MFA, green new deal, free public college, student debt forgiveness, and now medical debt forgiveness) and it won’t cost regular folks anything. All we have to do to cover this $40T in new commitments is tax the wealthy.

Bad news Bernie bros; even our rich aren’t that rich.

[NurseJackie]

12. Yep. A lot of the promises are so over-the-top, it reminds me of prosperity gospel evangelists.

My main gripe with the progressive wing of the party... Promise the world. We’ll give everyone everything they want (we’re up to MFA, green new deal, free public college, student debt forgiveness, and now medical debt forgiveness) and it won’t cost regular folks anything

Yep. A lot of the promises are so over-the-top, it reminds me of prosperity gospel evangelists. The followers of such things want something so desperately, and need it so bad, that they choose to believe rather than consider the reality of how such a promise would be fulfilled and whether such a thing is possible at all.

[Skidmore]

16. When all those

jobs lo we t to automation and the wealthy finish slamming their wallets shut, the bills will be due. Who will pay? After the previous Gilded Age, a depression wiped out wealth to the point that there was no free stuff. Why people don't see the parallels while simultaneously bashing the right's treading the trail that the racists followed during the early Twentieth Century is beyond me.

The world is being bled dry. We don't need to speed it up with promises that are empty from our side. Promises must be substantive to work. You can't pay the light bill on the next decade's pay if you don't know if you will have a job.I believe we help one another while not ignoring the needs of our own homes.

[George II]

3. Here we go again, reminiscent of the incomplete "medicare for all" and the "green new deal":

The proposal -- which is still in the works, separate from the senator's "Medicare for All" plan and meant to address debt under the current system -- does not explicitly state how Sanders will eliminate medical debt, but says, "under this plan, the federal government will negotiate and pay off past-due medical bills in collection that have been reported to credit agencies."

The one-page overview....

[Blue_true]

22. Negotiate and payoff.

If you have been in business you know that someone has to lose something when negotiations happen. So will hospitals accept being paid $0.10 on the dollar? What happens after hospitals take the deal, do they lay off staff, stop taking patients that can't pay upfront?

[still_one]

4. By hiring people to high positions in his campaign, who not only voted for Jill Stein, but

encouraging others to do likewise

[Uncle Joe]

5. What would any of that have to do with the issue; relief of medical debt in the OP?

[still_one]

6. Everything, which is why Warren is in my top list of candidates

[Uncle Joe]

7. Nothing presented.

[sheshe2]

28. Oh, yes he did.

He presented Elizabeth Warren.

[gulliver]

8. Ultimately, national health care does need to be retroactive

[HeartlandProgressive]

9. Trump declared bankruptcy four times

[brooklynite]

13. Couch cushion money after all his spending on MFA and GND...

[Uncle Joe]

14. I agree but it could have a major impact on millions of lives.

Last edited Sat Aug 31, 2019, 04:43 PM - Edit history (1)

The way I understand it, this would maximum bang for the buck.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

32. Another visionary idea by Bernie. No wonder he's the progressive leader of the Democratic Party.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Vegas Roller]

15. Coming up next --

Car debt relief @ $12.6 trillion
Credit card debt relief @ $6.2 trillion
and ... wait for the biggest ....
Mortgage debt relief @ $76.2 trillion

[Lordquinton]

35. Gotta start somewhere

[Otto Lidenbrock]

17. There are things he should have kept in the backburner for a second term

Because the fact of the matter a new president always inherits problems to solve that was not part of their platform but are leftover.

Promising all things at once is a recipe for disaster as a candidate because even if you get elected you're going to let people down.

[NYMinute]

20. Doesn't one need a first term before the second materializes?

The way it looks, the first term is appearing to be an impossibility.

[riverine]

18. "Eliminate"? sorry that is incorrect. "Transfer the debt to taxpayers" is the

correct term to use.

Just like Trump is transferring the lost tax revenue for his ill conceived tax cuts to future taxpayers.

[Uncle Joe]

19. Who do you think pays for all those medical bankruptcies?

[riverine]

21. Not taxpayers.

I would say the most accurate answer is "other patients".

If 50 year old Patient Z dies after weeks of expensive end-of-life treatment his/her unpaid costs are absorbed by raising fees on other patients.

A taxpayer who never uses that providers services won't pay any extra.

Providers write off medical debt all the time.

[Blue_true]

23. Typically the debt-holders.

When those debt-holders file their taxes, they may pay less taxes, but other taxpayers don't necessarily step into that breach like Senator Sanders is proposing.

[George II]

25. And when the debt holders have to swallow the bankruptcies, they raise their prices....

...even though the magnitude of the "medical bankruptcies" has been inflated far beyond the number they really are.

[Lordquinton]

36. The number of medical bankruptcies has not been inflated, they were low-balled

It's an economic stimulus package, one that will actually work.

[George II]

37. But no one has been able to supply hard numbers.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. Ding ding ding... we have a winner!!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[myohmy2]

24. Bernie...

...has solved yet another major problem plaguing many Americans,

"...would cancel $81 billion in existing past-due medical debt and make changes to the 2005 bankruptcy bill,..."

...the man's an absolute genius...he's the best friend the blue-collar American has running in this race...he will do America tremendous good when he becomes our President...

...Godspeed, Bernie...

[George II]

26. He hasn't solved it, if his plan goes into effect (highly doubtful) he's just transferred it....

...to unwitting taxpayers.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

34. You got that right!! This is why President Sanders is a lock!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[George II]

39. He has to get the nomination first, which is a longshot.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

43. Less of a longshot than ole moderate Joe & his incremental agenda... with Bernie & Elizabeth

competing for basically the same progressive voters, it's clear at some point they will join forces under a bold agenda for revolutionary change.

I'm guessing it will be Bernie in the #1 slot, Elizabeth #2 in 2020, as I've predicted the last 3+ years & then I hope they will switch roles in 2024. But, either way, Joe is no match for...


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[comradebillyboy]

27. Bernie promises the moon; can he deliver?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

44. Bernie sure can deliver... the moon AND the sun, shining on a better tomorrow for the entire planet

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[George II]

48. So what are his specific proposals and how to get them passed and PAY for them? We've seen....

....very little details, just non-specific bullet points. Plus, if you tally up the jobs created by his several proposals, it's around 30 million. How does he plan on finding people to fill those 30 million?

[awesomerwb1]

29. I want two unicorns too.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

49. Sorry, only one unicorn per customer!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[TreasonousBastard]

30. "The one-page overview..."

A ONE FUCKING PAGE OVERVIEW for something that will supposedly rearrange or eliminate medical debt? We're supposed to buy that?

All those years in Congress and the best he can do is a one page summary of a vague plan? It takes more than one page to rename a post office.

Gotta admit that this year he has finally written a Medicare bill-- one that is competing with five or six others for the slim chance to even get to committee, with even less chance to get to a full Senate vote. (Remember who's running the Senate?)

And after all that, has everyone forgotten that Presidents do not make law. Congress makes law. Presidents can propose and push for legislation, but they cannot write it.

If Bernie (or Liz, for that matter) really care, just stay in Senate and do your job.

[betsuni]

31. +1

[Aaron Pereira]

38. I'd like to see Warren come up with a similar plan.

In my field of work I've seen too many people faced with choice of slowly drowning in medical debt or bankruptcy. If we can afford $500 billion in unfunded defense supplementals we can also afford an $80 billion jubilee for medical debt.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

45. She will... count on it!! Elizabeth is a policy wonk extraordinaire!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[namahage]

40. You know what's really brilliant?

“Under this plan, the federal government will negotiate and pay off past-due medical bills in collection that have been reported to credit agencies."

Bernie just proposed a taxpayer-funded giveaway to Wall Street—and his supporters are now DEFENDING it.

[Eric J in MN]

50. There is no strict definition of 'Wall Street' but

...I don't personally consider a collection agency to be 'Wall Street.'

[Joe941]

41. Bernie is on a roll!

Great policies.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

46. What the voters have come to expect from Bernie... why many consider him

the greatest progressive visionary and leader of our time and why so many of his fellow Democratic candidates have been adopting his progressive policy positions this election cycle.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[Nanjeanne]

42. Policies are not promises. They are visions of what we can be and where our priorities should be.

Considering we seem to be able to increase military spending each year by close to that amount - I think eliminating medical debt is a great idea and will do far more good for people and the economy. If an expected 2020 military budget of 989 billion is doable - then 81 billion is very doable.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

47. Exactly!! VERY doable!! Why Bernie is a true leader in EVERY sense of the word!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!! or
Elizabeth & Bernie 2020!!
Either way, welcome to the revolution!!!

[whistler162]

51. So he has written a draft law and

started it moving through the Senate! Do you have the number?

[tymorial]

52. A lot of times the debt has been resold multiple times for pennies on the dollar

Do we really want to pay predatory debt collection companies? I dont disagree that we have a medical debt crisis but a lot of these companies are extremely shady

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

53. What I want to know is

how he plans to get this proposal through the legislative meat-grinder that is Congress. Bernie has sponsored only seven bills successfully as a senator, two of which involved the naming of post offices and another designated a Vermont Bicentennial Day. Contrast, for example, Amy Klobuchar, who was the primary sponsor of 33 bills that were enacted, almost all of which were substantive, involving issues like human trafficking and the environment (and a couple of post offices). If he can't jawbone his own colleagues as a senator, how will he, as president, be able to persuade a probably hostile Senate to get taxpayers to pay off everybody's medical debt?

[MichMan]

54. Doesn't this encourage people to stop paying any more on medical bills ?

His promise covers only those medical bills that are past due in collections.

If you believed this was going to happen, it would only make sense to stop paying immediately and wait for it to go to collection agencies. Of course, if it didn't ever get passed...……….

[brooklynite]

55. "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking about real money..."

--Senator Everett Dickson

[Uncle Joe]

56. Half a million medical bankruptcies this year, another half a million next year, pretty soon

you're talking about a shitload of bankruptcies.


--Uncle Joe

[brooklynite]

57. So, shall we trade in the college debt, the Medicare for All or the GND?

[Uncle Joe]

58. None of the above, we fight for all of them, the whole is much greater than the parts.