Bernie Sanders is proposing a plan to relieve Americans of their medical debts. Why? It’s “immoral and unconscionable” that anyone should owe money because they were sick.
“The very concept of medical debt should not exist,” Sanders said in a statement. “In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, one illness or disease should not ruin a family’s financial life and future.”
“It is immoral and unconscionable that families across the country are finding themselves nearly broke or bankrupt because of crippling medical debt while the health care industry made more than $100 billion in profits last year. My administration will take on the greed of the health care industry and end the epidemic of medical debt in America.”
How does Sanders think the health care industry works? Does he know why a CT scan costs $1500? Has he any clue why a pharmaceutical company brings a drug to market that costs $2000 a pill? Are they filthy, greedy robber barons or is there a legitimate economic reason for these costs?
Ascribing high healthcare costs to greed is evidence of a childish intellect. It reflects a shocking ignorance of the role that medical professionals play in the cost of modern medicine — a cost that is partly due to over-testing patients out of fear of being sued and the willingness of insurance companies to accommodate them. Paying some of the costs of treatment for those who can’t is also a factor in why medical care is so expensive.
Under the plan, Sanders says he would negotiate and pay off past-due medical bills in collections that credit agencies have reported. A Sanders administration would also ban the collection of medical debts beyond the statute of limitations and instruct the Internal Revenue Service to conduct a review of the billing and collection practices of the nearly 3,000 non-profit hospitals, his campaign said.
Sanders is also vowing to use the bankruptcy court system and allow people to adjudicate debt stemming from payments to providers and insurers for medical expenses. He said he would also remove medical debt from credit reports and end credit checking for rental housing, employment, insurance and other non-lending practices.
It’s obvious Sanders does not see himself as president. He sees himself as a daddy, writing checks to get his prodigal sons out of trouble. He’d cancel a couple of trillion dollars in student loan debt. And now he wants to cancel medical debt. And just like daddy, he wants to call the collection agencies and demand they get off his sons’ backs.
My dad is dead, but if I was in financial trouble due to student loans or medical bills, he certainly would have done all that he could to help — including getting a second mortgage on the house to bail me out.
But the American people don’t really want another daddy as president. Besides, most daddies are responsible adults, living within their means. Sanders’ splendiferous spending schemes would bankrupt us all.
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