Kamala Harris Sponsors Bernie Sanders' Single Payer Healthcare Bill
By: Kayla Pasacreta
Kamala Harris, photo via Slate
Democratic California Senator Kamala Harris, who many speculate as a 2020 presidential candidate, has announced she will co-sponser Bernie Sander's proposal for single-payer health care. She is the one of the first Democratic senators to do so. Sanders tweeted his thanks to Harris for the support.
Sanders floated the idea of single payer health care during the election, but many critics said it was too unrealistic. Top Democratic figures like Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have distanced themselves from it.
The concept of single-payer healthcare would require the government to provide basic health care and coverage for citizens, regardless of income or health status. The intended goal of single-payer healthcare is to make the government have more of a role in healthcare, and start to pull away from privatized health care. The term "single-payer" refers to the government as the provider of health care for its citizens. The long term goal for single-payer health care will be to eventually have the entire country covered by government-provided healthcare.
Harris stated,
“It is so much better that people have meaningful access to affordable health care at every stage of life, from birth on. Because the alternative is that we as taxpayers otherwise are paying huge amounts of money for them to get their health care in an emergency room. So it’s not only about what is morally and ethically right, it also makes sense from a fiscal standpoint, or if you want to talk about it as a return on investment for taxpayers.”
Not only does Harris' support of the bill prop her up to be a very liberal presidential candidate, the move comes at a good time. While Republicans scramble to try to find a replacement for Obamacare, desperation may lead to single-payer health care looking like the most attractive package.
