Bernie Sanders: 'Getting Sick In America Should Not Mean Going Bankrupt, Losing Your Home, Car, Or Life Savings'
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) recently expressed his concerns about the high cost of medical care in the United States, highlighting the financial burden it places on patients.
What Happened: On Monday, Sanders took to X to voice his concerns about the high cost of healthcare in the United States. He pointed out that the U.S. is the only major country where an emergency hospital visit can lead to financial ruin for patients. He stated, “Getting sick in America should not mean going bankrupt, losing your home, car, or life savings.”
Sanders shared a video featuring various medical professionals who shared stories about the high cost of medical care in the U.S.
Why It Matters: Sanders has been vocal about the high cost of healthcare in the U.S. In March, he criticized the “outrageous” prices of diabetes drug Ozempic by Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) and considered holding hearings on the issue. In June, he called the price tag of Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi, produced by Eisai Co Ltd (OTC:ESALF) and Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB), ‘unconscionable’.
In February, he blasted the high prices of lifesaving drugs by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) during a Senate hearing on Medicare. He also highlighted the case of a woman in Nebraska who died of cancer after setting up a GoFundMe campaign to pay for her medication.
According to a Federal Reserve report, 28% of Americans had to forego some form of medical care in 2022 due to high costs, marking a 4 percentage-point increase from the previous year.
Photo by Sheila Fitzgerald on Shutterstock
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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Shivdeep Dhaliwal