Bernie Sanders talks universal Medicare, and 1.1 million people click to watch him

[Sophia4]

207. May I remind everyone that Medicare insures people at the most expensive time

in their medical lives, but its implementation and support and administrative costs are lower than those of our private insurance system.

Here is a very pro-private-insurance analysis of the administrative cost issue.

The experience in countries that have adopted single payer is that their overall costs are considerably lower than ours -- and I can say based on my experience living in four of those countries that their outcomes are better than ours and their care is great.

I recall that my husband at one time broke his leg in one of those countries. They hospitalized him for much, much longer than he would be hospitalized in the US. I would have preferred to have him at home although with two small children in the house maybe that wasn't a good idea. Still, I think that experience is not unusual and yet countries with single payer pay less for better long-term outcomes in health care than we do.

The cost of implementing and supporting single payer is included in the costs reflected on the websites that compare the prices that I mention above.

And the single payer insurance I had covered much more than the insurance we have here -- dental care for starts -- spas and other kinds of recovery for seconds.

The pharmaceuticals are cheaper if you have single payer that negotiates drug prices. There are a lot of savings with single payer.