Of course, moving to this kind of system will not be easy and will not happen overnight. This is why every serious proposal for Medicare for All contemplates a significant transition period.
In the weeks ahead, I will propose a transition plan that will specifically address how I would use this time to begin providing immediate financial relief to struggling families, rein in out-of-control health care costs, increase coverage, and save lives. My transition plan will take seriously and address substantively the concerns of unions, individuals with private insurance, hospitals, people who work for private health insurers, and medical professionals who worry about what a new system will mean for them. It will also grapple directly with the entrenched political and economic interests that would spend freely, as they
have throughout modern American history, to
influence politicians and try to
frighten the American people into rejecting a plan that would save them
thousands of dollars a year on premiums and deductibles while making sure they can always see the health care providers they need with false claims and scare tactics.
But there's a reason former President Barack Obama has
called Medicare for All a good idea. There's a reason the American people
support it. It's because when it comes to the cost of health care, we are in the middle of a full-blown crisis.
We are paying
twice as much as any other major nation for care – even as
tens of millions lack coverage, and even as family after family sees its finances destroyed by a health issue. And the American people
know that in the long-term, a simple system that covers everybody, provides the care they need when they need it, puts $11 trillion back in their pockets and uses all of the public's leverage to keep costs as low as possible is the best option for their family budgets and for the health of their loved ones.
As President, I'll fight to get it done.
