New Study Confirms Medicare for All Would Save 114,000 Lives and more than $1 Trillion a Year
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement after Yale University researchers released a new study finding that Sanders’ Medicare for All legislation would save 114,000 lives and reduce overall healthcare spending in America by more than $1 trillion a year.
“This study confirms what we have known for years: Medicare for All saves lives and saves money. In fact, guaranteeing healthcare as a human right through a Medicare for All, single-payer system would cost $1 trillion less than our current dysfunctional system. It would save working families thousands of dollars a year. And it would prevent over 100,000 Americans from dying unnecessarily each and every year because they cannot make it to a doctor in time,” Sanders said. “At a time when 15 million Americans are being thrown off the healthcare they have and 20 million Americans have already seen their premiums double, on average, as a result of Trump’s so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ we need Medicare for All now more than ever. The time is now to end the greed of the big insurance and drug companies and pass Medicare for All.”
Yale University researchers found that Medicare for All would reduce total annual healthcare spending by nearly 20%, or more than $1 trillion while eliminating premiums, deductibles and copayments, provider networks, and prior authorization. As a result, Americans would save:
$377.5 billion by paying no more than other major countries for prescription drugs;
$286.3 billion by eliminating bureaucracy and waste;
$285.7 billion by curbing fraudulent billing;
$100 billion by preventing costly emergency room and hospital visits; and
$295.6 billion by reimbursing providers fairly for the care they provide.
Researchers also estimate that Medicare for All would save 114,000 lives every year, including:
33,232 Americans who are currently uninsured and can’t access lifesaving care;
29,631 Americans who are currently underinsured and cannot afford care;
20,111 Americans who would no longer lose their health insurance as a result of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”;
18,200 seniors who are currently unable to afford their prescription drugs; and
13,000 seniors who would receive quality care in nursing homes.
Read the full analysis here.