Bernie Sanders Nails RFK Jr. On Healthcare
Trump wants RFK Jr. to head HHS, but the questioning by Sen. Bernie Sanders revealed that RFK Jr. doesn't believe that healthcare is a human right.
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RFK Jr. Is A Danger To Your Health(care)
RFK Jr. had a rough confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. He kept confusing Medicare and Medicaid, but he never corrected himself. The hearing could generously be described as difficult, but a moment that stood out was when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) questioned Kennedy on whether he views healthcare as a human right.
Sen. Sanders asked:
Despite spending, as you indicated, two or three times as much per capita on health care is other nations. We have 85 million people who are uninsured, underinsured.
We have all kinds of chronic Illnesses our life expectancy is lower than other countries and for working class people in this country They are living six seven years shorter lives than the top one percent. We have a problem. Okay, and I'm going to suggest some ideas that I think can remedy that. Last year, the insurance industry in this country made over 70 billion dollars, While at the same time, 85 million Americans were uninsured or underinsured.
Do you agree with me that the United States should join every other major country on earth and guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right? Yes? No?
Kennedy answered, “Senator, I can't give you a yes or no answer to that question. Is healthcare a human right? Is healthcare a human right? In the way that free speech is a human right, I would say it's different because if, with free speech doesn't cost anybody anything, but in health care, if you smoke cigarettes for 20 years and you get cancer, do you, you are now taking from the pool, and so are you guaranteed the same right as you.”
Sanders followed up, “ All right, every other country I know says health care whether you're poor or rich Younger or older, all a human right. I'm not hearing you say that.”
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Kennedy’s answer was important because by his standard, anyone with diabetes, unless they were born with Type 1, shouldn’t have healthcare as a right. If someone is obese or if they had cancer, they shouldn’t be entitled to healthcare.
Kennedy’s answer was a version of that old line used by Republicans that blames people for their health issues. Kennedy seems to believe that being healthy is a choice and people don’t have a basic right to healthcare.
The answer came from the man that Trump wants to have administering the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and Medicare.
Republicans don’t have the votes to get rid of the ACA, but they could do a lot of damage to America’s collective health if RFK Jr. is confirmed.
What do you think about Kennedy’s answer? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
That we are even debating whether healthcare is a basic human right is a stunning commentary on the depravity under Republican rule. Healthcare as a human right is ONLY up for debate when the consequences of not having healthcare do not affect you or your loved ones. We should all be ashamed.
Kennedy is criminally insane. The Senate will probably confirm him anyway. We are in the hands of madmen.