Full Text of the Medicare for All Bill

[HerbChestnut]

As promised.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1129/text

[wasupaloopa]

1. Just words on paper. Bernie's words

In the form of a bill is still Bernies words and nothing more.

Bernie has been introducing bills that go nowhere his whole Senate career

Any change in health care needs to pass the House and the Senate on bipartisan vote

[HerbChestnut]

2. Gotta love this forum...

Look up his work on reforming the VA.

[George II]

10. The biggest scandal in the history of the VA occurred under his chairmanship...

....of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Not wise to hold that up for scrutiny:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/us/politics/faith-in-agency-clouded-bernie-sanderss-va-response.html

Faith in Agency Clouded Bernie Sanders’s V.A. Response

Feb. 6, 2016

There were reports of secret waiting lists to hide long delays in care. Whistle-blowers said as many as 40 veterans had died waiting for appointments. And Congress was demanding answers.

Despite mounting evidence of trouble at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Senator Bernie Sanders, then the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, initially regarded the complaints as overblown, and as a play by conservatives to weaken one of the country’s largest social welfare institutions.

“There is, right now, as we speak, a concerted effort to undermine the V.A.,” Mr. Sanders said in May 2014, two weeks after the story was picked up by national news organizations. “You have folks out there now — Koch brothers and others — who want to radically change the nature of society, and either make major cuts in all of these institutions, or maybe do away with them entirely.”

But the scandal deepened: The secretary of veterans affairs resigned. Reports showed major problems at dozens of V.A. hospitals. And an Obama administration review revealed “significant and chronic systemic leadership failures” in the hospital system.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But a review of his record in the job also shows that in a moment of crisis, his deep-seated faith in the fundamental goodness of government blinded him, at least at first, to a dangerous breakdown in the one corner of it he was supposed to police. Despite inspector general reports dating back a decade that documented a growing problem with wait times, Mr. Sanders, who had served on the committee for six years before he became its head, was quick to defend the agency and slow to aggressively question V.A. officials and demand accountability.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“His ideological perspective blurred his ability to recognize the operational reality of what was happening at the V.A.,” said Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “The reality was that he was one of the last people to publicly recognize the gravity of the situation.”

[HerbChestnut]

11. Man, George, is there no Bernie-related thread you aren't ready to pounce on?

He passed a VA reform bill with John McCain. Why no mention of that?

[George II]

13. It's in the article. You said "look up his work on reforming the VA." and I did....

....and presented it in a detailed article.

You're not interested in the facts and background and inaction that contributed to the worst scandal in the history of the Veterans' Administration?

Sorry if that displeases you.

[HerbChestnut]

15. You never cease to amaze.

[NurseJackie]

16. GeorgeII is great, isn't he?

[George II]

17. I'll take that as a complement.

You tell me to do something, I go and do it, you don't like what I found. I guess I was thorough.

[vsrazdem]

23. No there is not.

[betsuni]

28. Thank you for posting, I had not known this.

"His ideological perspective blurred his ability to recognize the operational reality of what was happening... ."

[wasupaloopa]

19. And the two post offices?

[vsrazdem]

4. I am really tired of this false meme, his record is no different than any other senator running.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/democratic-senators-pass-bills-rate/

Number of Introduced Bills Passed by One Chamber

Warren has introduced 305 bills. 15 passed.
Booker has introduced 269 bills. 12 passed.
Harris has introduced 86 bills. 5 passed.
Sanders has introduced 909 bills. 8 passed.
Number of Introduced Bills that Became Law

Warren has introduced 305 bills. 0 became law.
Booker has introduced 269 bills. 2 became law.
Harris has introduced 86 bills. 0 became law.
Sanders has introduced 909 bills. 3 became law.

Number of Co-Sponsored Bills that Became Law as of March 2019

Warren has co-sponsored 1,766 bills. 45 became law.
Booker has co-sponsored 1,314 bills. 36 became law.
Harris has co-sponsored 575 bills. 13 became law.
Sanders has co-sponsored 5,979 bills. 217 became law.

[HerbChestnut]

5. Just one false meme of many around here.

Thanks, vsrazdem.

EDIT: Just ran the numbers. Bernie has the highest conversion rate of bills turned into laws of the four candidates listed there.

[HerbChestnut]

14. One thing to keep in mind is that DU is not a microcosm of the American electorate.

There used to be many more people here who supported Bernie, but most of those left after 2016. The Democratic Primaries Forum can get heated...

[vsrazdem]

22. It is not that most have left, it is that most don't post so they don't get ostracized.

[wasupaloopa]

20. Sanders has introduced 909 bills. 3 became law. Proves my point

[vsrazdem]

21. Harris has introduced 86 bills. 0 became law.

[SunsetDreams2]

24. 4 were enacted

Harris was the primary sponsor of 4 bills that were enacted:

S. 129: Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial Act
S. 3055: Disaster Victims Passport and ID Relief Act of 2018
S. 3033: COUNT Victims Act
S. 729: John Muir National Historic Site Expansion Act
View All »

Does 4 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/kamala_harris/412678

Sanders was the primary sponsor of 7 bills that were enacted:

S. 885 (113th): A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 35 Park Street in Danville, Vermont, as the “Thaddeus Stevens Post Office”.
S. 2782 (113th): A bill to amend title 36, United States Code, to improve the Federal charter for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and for other ...
S. 893 (113th): Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013
H.R. 5245 (109th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1 Marble Street in Fair Haven, Vermont, as the “Matthew Lyon Post Office Building”.
H.J.Res. 129 (104th): Granting the consent of Congress to the Vermont-New Hampshire Interstate Public Water Supply Compact.
H.R. 1353 (102nd): Entitled the “Taconic Mountains Protection Act of 1991”.
H.J.Res. 132 (102nd): To designate March 4, 1991, as “Vermont Bicentennial Day”.
View All »

Does 7 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357

At any rate, I think it’s silly to compare sponsored bills vs enacted. Bernie has been there since Jan. 2007. Kamala was elected Jan 2017. That’s a 10 year gap. 7 vs 4

[vsrazdem]

25. At any rate, I think it's silly to compare sponsored bills vs enacted.

[SunsetDreams2]

26. I agree :)

[wasupaloopa]

27. How long has Sanders been in the Senate? How many years was

the Senate controlled by Republicans?

Nice try!

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked, recommended and bookmarked.

Thanks for the thread HerbChestnut.

[TidalWave46]

6. Additional comments from previous op.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287311613

[msongs]

7. of course it lays out the complete funding mechanisms nt

[HerbChestnut]

8. That will come in time.

[TexasTowelie]

29. Will that be before people vote in the primaries?

Bernie has been running for president for five years, but we still have minimal information about how he will fund his plans.

[HerbChestnut]

30. There's been a few proposals floated. You are free to look them up.

[TexasTowelie]

31. In other words,

nobody knows. You've convinced me who not to vote for.

[HerbChestnut]

32. Oh, I'm sure you were on the fence...

[TexasTowelie]

33. I expect that others will have the same reaction.

I don't see many people advocating that either the President or Congress support a MFA bill that doesn't pay for itself. There are more pragmatists than idealists in this country.

[Turbineguy]

9. I wonder if the system can handle the ramping up

of eligible people. The medicare administration system would have to grow rapidly. However it would be able to absorb many skilled workers who would be turned out by private insurers.

It's interesting how the premiums are set up.

I hope this succeeds.

A society that invests in the good health of its members is a good society.

[George II]

18. This bill, if it's ever passed, would triple those on Medicare compared to today. Unfortunately...

...though, it's questionable how many skilled workers would be absorbed. There are only ten CMS Regional Offices around the country, those currently employed by private insurers are spread out all over the country.

Is it expected that they will pick up and move near the closest Regional Office?

Another thing that doesn't seem to be addressed in this bill is how drug prices will be negotiated with the drug companies. Let's say Medicare demands that drug prices be cut in half. All well and good for existing drugs. But if drug companies don't see a reasonable profit going forward, they will drastically cut back on research, and we'll see a lot fewer drugs being developed.

Unfortunately many look only at the cost of a drug as being comprised material costs and production costs, forgetting the cost of research and development, which is probably higher than any other industry.

The cost of research and development (which could be tens of millions even before a drug is released) is amortized into the ultimate selling price of the drug. That's why over time we see the prices of drugs drop significantly.

Of course there are scumbags in the industry, like that Shkreli guy, but there are scumbags in every industry and organization.

So, the bottom line is that if drug manufacturers are "forced" to lower prices, they'll throttle their future research into new drugs.

The same thing is for medical research by doctors and hospitals. If their prices are forced to be reduced, you won't find as many research facilities, hospitals, and even doctors

I think some of the provisions in this bill were written naively and not taking into account life in the real world.