Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has said that the public’s reaction to the killing of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare over the past week is a stark “reflection” of the “broken” U.S. health care system — and a show that Americans are ready for a political party that prioritizes the needs of the working class and champions policies like Medicare for All.
In a Jacobin interview published Wednesday with Sanders, the senator said that he condemns the killing “wholeheartedly,” but noted that the public reaction to it is an extension of decades of frustration and agony caused by private health insurance companies.
“Many, many people are furious at the health insurance companies who make huge profits denying them and their families the health care that they desperately need,” Sanders said. “The stories unfold all the time: ‘My mother was on cancer treatment and I couldn’t get care for her. The insurance company rejected it. Some bureaucrat rejected it. She died.’”
“What you’re seeing, the outpouring of anger at the insurance companies, is a reflection of how people feel about the current health care system. It is broken. It is cruel,” he went on. “People know it, and unfortunately, we have not had the political leadership to take on the greed of the insurance companies and drug companies.”
The way to address this anger, he said, is to create a system that works for everyone, not just for the rich — something that would not only save lives, but also save the American people and government money in administrative costs. He pointed out that regular people in the U.S. have shorter lifespans than the richest Americans, noting that people are constantly sharing stories of family members suffering or dying due to insurance companies’ greed.
Elsewhere in the interview, Sanders said that the deep dissatisfaction with health insurers shows that Democrats’ “abandonment” of the working class in this and past elections is why they are losing support among Americans.
Since Democrats’ embarrassing loss in the presidential election, Sanders has repeatedly criticized the party’s corporate-friendly platform that sweeps aside the needs of the American people. Liberal pundits close with party leaders, rather than attempting to address the deluge of health insurance horror stories people have shared in the aftermath of the shooting, have instead bent over backwards to defend insurance companies — despite their denials and delays costing countless American lives each year.
“You talk about why working-class people have abandoned the Democratic Party? That is one of the answers,” Sanders said.
“If you go around saying, ‘The only thing I can say about health care is I will oppose cuts to the Affordable Care Act’ — man! That doesn’t address the crisis,” Sanders went on, criticizing Democrats for championing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which he said exists only to funnel government subsidies into private insurers’ hands, rather than to provide universal health care.
“Health care is a human right. We’re going to take on the insurance companies. We’re going to have a tax system that is fair. We’re going to demand a wealth tax and a tax on the very wealthiest people in this country. We’re going to have campaign finance reforms so billionaires don’t buy elections,” said Sanders. “All of those things fall naturally into place, and they make sense to people, but you need leadership that is prepared to say this.”
Angry, shocked, overwhelmed? Take action: Support independent media.
We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
As we undertake this life-sustaining work, we appeal for your support. Please, if you find value in what we do, join our community of sustainers by making a monthly or one-time gift.