Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) renewed his push for Medicare for All, arguing that the U.S. healthcare system is failing Americans and should guarantee coverage as a basic human right.
Sanders Slams ‘Broken’ Healthcare System
On Sunday, Sanders wrote on X that the U.S. healthcare system is failing Americans and criticized the role of corporate profits in health care.
"Our current healthcare system is broken," he said.
He added, "Progressives understand healthcare must be a human right, guaranteed to all, not a source of billions in profits for insurance and drug companies."
Sanders also cited a recent poll showing 64% of Americans support Medicare for All, adding, "They’re right. Let’s do it."
Sanders Calls for Universal Health Care
He accompanied the post with a 50-second clip from his July rally in Minneapolis.
In the video, Sanders asked the crowd whether anyone believed the American healthcare system was working.
"Does anybody think it makes sense that we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people as a human right?" he asked.
Sanders also questioned whether the healthcare system should generate billions of dollars in profits for insurance and drug companies.
He ultimately called for universal coverage through a single-payer system, saying he and his supporters would work to "guarantee health care to every man, woman and child through a Medicare for all single-payer system."
Our current healthcare system is broken.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 16, 2026
Progressives understand healthcare must be a human right, guaranteed to all, not a source of billions in profits for insurance and drug companies.
A recent poll showed 64% of Americans want Medicare for All. They’re right. Let’s do it. pic.twitter.com/NFwOUk0QKB
Healthcare Costs and AI Use
Earlier, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) criticized healthcare consolidation, arguing that companies such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH), CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) and Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) had gained control across the healthcare supply chain, potentially raising costs.
She backed the bipartisan Patients Before Monopolies Act, which sought to restrict common ownership of insurers and pharmacies.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) criticized Republican healthcare cuts, saying lawmakers should lower costs and expand coverage rather than reduce healthcare programs.
Billionaire Mark Cuban argued that employers may have been overpaying for healthcare because of complex contracts and vertically integrated providers.
He urged CEOs to use AI tools to review contracts and uncover hidden costs.
Meanwhile, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen praised AI’s potential in medicine, saying it was already "a better doctor than 99.99% of human doctors" after OpenAI reported that physicians found fewer flaws in GPT-5.6’s medical responses than in physician-written responses.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
