Unveileds backers their proposal at this hour long briefing. [chatter] all sanders let me thank of you for being here this afternoon. Our special guests, the media likes to talk about the politics of this event, who is supporting it and why and its blah. And blah, blah, but the American People want to know what we will do to fix this dysfunctional Healthcare System that cost us twice as much per person compared to any other country, but leaves 28 Million People uninsured and even more underinsured. That is what the market people want to know in terms of what we are doing. And that is what we will be talking about today. [applause] [cheers] sen. Sanders and i want to tell you, i want to tell you that i am just very excited about the kind of support that are medicare for all legislation is receiving all across this country and right here in the United States senate. As of today, we now have 16 cosponsors on this legislation. [applause] and in order of seniority, because that is the protocol here in the senate, let me mention all of the cosponsors. Senator pat leahy, sheldon , jeannese, tom udall shaheen, jeff merkley, al ,ranken, Kirsten Gillibrand duke blumenthal, brian schatz, happy baldwin, Elizabeth Warren, martin heinrich, daisy corona, senator ed markey, cory booker, and senator harris of california. [applause] sen. Sanders and we also have dozens of grassroots organizations all across america who are going to help us pass this bill. Up to begin by bringing the podium some folks who have enormous experience professionally and personally in terms of health care. And they are going to explain to us, and to the many people watching us on live stream, as to why we need to move to a medicare for all system. Pediatriciane a from southeast washington dc and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the George WashingtonUniversity School of medicine. Dr. Sriram. [applause] dr. Sriram good afternoon. , and i am dr. Sriram a pediatrician and southeast washington, d. C. For seven years i have care for a patient i will call sean. I met him when he was 13, newly diagnosed with type one diabetes and still adjusting to checking his blood sugar and doing insulin injections. I earned his trust because i never judged when he had setbacks and i always kept it real. Sugarcoating is not recommended for diabetics. [laughter] dr. Sriram together we have made his diabetes and his Mental Health issues manageable conditions that he controls, rather than his conditions controlling him. He is now 20 years old, a graduate of a rigorous vocational skills program, and eager to get a job. Two months ago, sean told me he wanted to look for work in virginia. But then he would not have medicaid like he does now. His mother has become a friend of mine and i recently learned that her health is struggling. She will not be eligible for medicare for at least 10 years and none of her three jobs come with Health Insurance. Fortunately, she lives in washington dc and she qualifies for medicaid. But if she lived in her home state of texas she would be uninsured. Sean and his family are like hundreds of patients that i see in southeast washington dc, like millions of patients that Community Physicians see every day across america. I greatly appreciate how the Affordable Care act has made life easier for sean and his family. But their experiences highlight ongoing problems with their Health Care System. Uninsured africanamericans are twice as likely as white people to have no coverage if they live in states that have not expanded medicaid. Too many women and low income families are stuck in this situation, working multiple jobs with no health benefits, or they are wondering if their Health Insurance premiums are worth the financial sacrifice. Whatphysician, i know medicaid for all would mean for patients like sean and their families. It would mean we are finally making health care a basic human rights, no matter, what you earn no matter where you live and no matter what you look like. Doctors like me and patients like sean, and mothers like his mom, have not worked our butts off to stay healthy and alive just for Insurance Companies depressed people out, or for politicians to play games with the basic human right of health care. When it comes to health policy, a lot of people quote senator ted kennedy. But i want to echo his older brother. Ago,is day, 55 years president john f. Kennedy challenged americans to reach for the stars. Today i am asking my fellow americans to reach for their hearts. Medicare to build for all, we choose to build medicare for all now, and do the other things like cheaper prescriptions and reined in health care costs. Not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because medicare for all will measure and organize the best of our energies and skills to improve American Health care. Because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one that we are unwilling to postpone, and one that we intend to win. Thank you. [applause] good job. Well done. Dr. Sriram thank you. [applause] sen. Sanders thank you. Camacho is aon nurse at a Major Hospital in northern california. She is a member of the California Nurses AssociationNational Nurses united. Melissa . [applause] ms. Johnsoncamacho like bernie was a saying, senator sanders. My name is Melissa Johnson camacho and i have been a nurse for almost 10 years. I have been working hard with National Nurses united and the California Nurses Association all across this nation. We are trying to make a more Humane Health Care system. We want one that is based on patient needs and not pain and profit. I am here today because of my patients. I am here to advocate for them and for cancer patients, medicare for all would be crucial. It would be an indoor miss relief. And for some it will mean the difference between life and death. Most people do not realize that a cancer diagnosis is not just a very frightening diagnosis, but what comes with it is also financial devastation for far too many. And because of high deductibles and outofpocket expenses, we have tragic cases of people who do not even get to the treatment that they need. Patients that i think about every day. One young woman still lives deep in my heart. Her cancer had not cast aside and her lungs filled with fluid consistently. She needed to have the fluid drained in order to breathe and survive. I noticed she never completely emptied the bags, which meant that her lungs never were all the way clear. When i asked why, it was because she could not afford to change the bags more than just once per day. These bags are very expensive and her insurance did not cover the full cost. She was never able to take a deep breath and she lived in constant distress and pain, struggling to breathe. And to make matters worse, the insurance policies in renewed. That meant her annual to dockable was in place deductible was in place and that she would have to pay the full amount of her medications and supplies until the deductible was meant. Was met. That young woman spent the rest of her life in unnecessary stress. Andcessary pain, unnecessary agony. She never again was able to take a full breath for the rest of her life. And as far as i am concerned as a nurse, this is treatment denied. This is treatment that she needed and deserved. [applause] ms. Johnsoncamacho thank you. Thank you. To me it is a moral that anybody profits off of the need for health care. It is repugnant to me that this profit comes from denying care. I see the suffering and pain this causes every single day in the faces of my patients. This system is killing too many of my patients. And i say, no more. Lets put an end to this system that is putting profits before patients needs. Registered nurses like me know that the only way we are going to do this is with medicare for all. I want to thank all of the senators cosponsoring this bill. And health care is a human rights. And we are going to make it happen. Thank you. [applause] [cheers] great job. Sen. Sanders rebecca would is a mother and patient who is sharing her story with us of choosing between her daughter, charlies treatment, and her own. Rebecca . Do you need help . Come with us. [laughter] ok. Rebecca and iim am from charlottesville, virginia. This is charlie. She is kind of bouncing around, as you may have seen, so i will send her to ben. [laughter] familys story begins like many. My husband and i met, graduated from college, got married, found employment and decided to start a family. Our story diverges from the norm at my childs birth. Due to preeclampsia, my daughter was delivered via emergency csection 10 hours into her 26th week of gestation. She weighed one pound, 12 ounces and was the size of my hand. My constant bedside vigil started because i did not want her to die alone. Charlie was tough. After three months, she was well enough to come home. We thought it was over, but it was merely the end of the beginning for us. Issues from her premature arrival appeared one after another. Each one required treatments and a therapy. There was specialty formula, medications and formula thickeners. Then she needed physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy. The list grew and it continues to grow to this day. Charlies determination and perseverance has served her well. She responded positively to therapy, ot gave her the use of her hands, a good thing because she wants to be a doctor and a drummer. [applause] ms. Wood and she was able to run and jump, as you have all witnessed. And speech there be is why she cant talk and say can talk and say i love you. She has exceeded initial expectations, however it all came at a cost. I had to make impossible choices. Should i pay for her therapy or my exorbitant asthma medication kobe . Notces like these are impossible, i chose to pay for hers and go without mine. One day i needed inexpensive dental procedure. Unfortunately, it was at the same time that a therapy payment was due. Charlies speech was a merging and it was afraid we would miss a window of opportunity for development if we missed the therapy. I put off my dental procedure. It cost me dearly. Due to the delay, an infection spread it throughout my mouth and a job. I went to the emergency room because the swelling was obstructing my airway. After a course of antibiotics, i was discharged. The next day i had all of my teeth pulled, the infection drained, and parts of my job taken away in a sixhour procedure under local anesthesia. I cannot afford to have it done under general anesthesia. I cried the entire ride home afterwards. Stories like mine should not happen anywhere, but certainly not in our country. Our Health Care System is broken. It is time that we look to singlepayer health care as a ing that families are not faced with impossible choices like mine. [applause] sen. Sanders we are spending almost 18 of our gdp on health care, twice as much per capita as any other country. Health care for all is not only a moral issue, it is an economic issue. And were going to bring up mr. Richard master, who is the ceo and founder of scf industries, a multimillion Dollar Company in eastern pennsylvania. He will tell us why as a businessman he understands why the future of the country rests with medicare for all. Richard . Mr. Master thank you. Good afternoon. It is wonderful to be here today. Four years ago, i started an investigation. I wanted to find out why every year at renewal time my Company Faces double digit increases in health care premiums. Ensured 10 an hour to insure an employee with a family. We spent 2 million a year on insurance for a small group of employees. So i took a deep dive into the Health Care Insurance industry in the United States, and i do not like what i found. Every citizen in this country, regardless of their political leanings, must know the truth about this industry. It is a totally unnecessary middleman, whose very existence costs businesses a fortune and add the value adds no value. I produced a documentary care,fix it health that presents the case in plain english. You should watch it. If you are not man enough, when you finish that one, watch the second one. Then you will really get mad. Here is the story in a nutshell. Insurance companies are making backroom deals with drug manufacturers and pocketing the money. Ever heard of a pharmacy benefit benefit manager . Look into it. Other industrialized countries get Better Health results at half the price. The way that we finance Health Care Keeps wages flat, discourages businesses from hiring fulltime employees, and causes discrimination against employees in their 50s and 60s. At 17 of our gdp, growing in the18 and beyond 2002os. This poses a real existential threat to the american economy. Warren buffett was right, medical costs are the tapeworm of American Economic competitiveness. Bestceo, my job is defined practices that maximize efficiency. Over the last four years i have joined groups of equally concerned business people, like Business Leaders transforming health care, and i have studied in depth the Health Care Systems of other industrialized nations. There is no doubt, no doubt at all in my mind, that the best way to ensure the competitiveness of American Business is with a singlepayer Health Care System. [applause] mr. Master medicare deserves to be the single pair, it provides better results at lower prices and lower cost to our society, with more satisfied customers than any other Insurance Company in the country. Coverage to every citizen will improve both the health of our citizens and the health of our businesses. I applaud senator sanders. And the cosponsors for introducing this legislation, and for embracing this central idea. Socalledclear, the unfettered free market will never deliver the Health Care System that we need if we are to remain an economic superpower. [applause] mr. Master we have initiated a new Campaign Business initiative for health policies. And the aim of this is to educate the public and lawmakers about the economic benefits of the singlepayer system. I encourage every member of congress to leave their ideology at the door, and to work with us and within these fine senators to build a medicare for all system, to finance health care. Thank you. Sen. Sanders thank you very much. [applause] last, but very much not least, is dr. Daniel martin. Danielle martin. I think it is high time we started taking a look at what countries around the world were doing in providing quality care to all of their people in a far more costeffective way than we do. One of the examples of a singlepayer system that is working well, that is popular, is the canadian system. Dr. Martin is a canadian physician, healthcare administrator, and an associate professor at the university of toronto. She is the author of a canadian best selling book better now, six ideas to improve health care for canadians. Dr. Martin . Dr. Martin thank you. I am very grateful somebody americans are interested in learning about the experience of your canadian neighbors under our singlepayer Health Care System, which we also call medicare. As a practicing doctor, a hospital administrator, and a citizen, i am so proud to be access tosystem where doctor and Hospital Services is truly based on need, not ability to pay. And i am not the only one. ofublic polls, 94 canadians say that our Health Care System is a source of pride, even more than ice hockey. It is a symbol to us of what it truly means to be canadian, that we take care of each other. My grandparents immigrated to canada in the early 1950s, like so many people that come to this country, hoping to build a better life for their kids. At that time there was no universal Health Care Coverage in canada. So what my grandfather so when my grandfather had his first heart attack in his early 40s, his world was shaken. By the time he died nearly a decade later, his family was essentially bankrupted by medical bills. I know that this remains a reality for many in the United States today. But you should know that just north of your border, that kind of a situation is essentially unimaginable. My generation of canadians does not remember what it was like to worry about paying a doctor or a hospital bill. And despite our challenges, which of course every country experiences, canadians have a longer life expectancy, lower infant mortality rates, and if you are preventable deaths than the United States. Singlepayer health care is also as a no less less than 2 in a public plans as compared to 18 in the private plans here in the u. S. We spent just under 5,000 per capita in canada to cover everyone. You spend nearly 10,000 per capita and yet tens of millions of people are uninsured. But most importantly, when my patients are sick, i do not need to ask if they have insurance, or if they can afford to pay for my services. Andthroughout my pregnancy, for the birth of my daughter in a world class hospital, i was never asked for money and i never received a bill. I just handed over this card, my Canadian Health care card, to my doctor and that was it. I wish all of my american neighbors could experience the same simplicity in their moment of need. And i hope the American Peopl