Senator Sanders Vows to Fix Broken Health, Education and Labor System

The cover image of this article is from spacecoastortho.com.

I am proud to accept the role of chairmanship for the US Senate's health, education, labor, and pensions committee (HELP). This committee will oversee some of the most important concerns of the American people. As I take on this responsibility, I am reflecting on the best ways to tackle the major problems that my Vermont constituents and other working families in the country are facing.

Healthcare System :ambulance:

The entire healthcare system in the US is broken at its core. We are spending nearly twice as much as other developed countries and nearly 20% of our GDP on it, which is phenomenally high. In spite of this, millions of Americans are still uninsured or underinsured, while we have poorer health outcomes and shorter life expectancy compared to other nations. Insurers are making huge amounts of money, yet we have more than 500,000 people declare bankruptcy of medical debt each year, and 68,000 people die for lack of proper care. Our complex and disjointed healthcare infrastructure is unable to generate the number of doctors, nurses, dentists, and mental health professionals that are crucially needed.

If we want to develop a functional system of healthcare, its purpose should be to provide top-notch care for everyone, not massive profits for the insurance industry. At present, the US pays some of the highest values for prescription drugs, and pharmaceutical companies are enjoying record-breaking profits.

Executive salaries in these companies are also soaring, as a quarter of the population cannot pay for the medications recommended by their physicians. Even though Medicare covers hospitalization and other medical costs, it does not cover dental, vision, and hearing services, leaving millions of elderly people to try to manage without these essential healthcare requirements.

Education :school_satchel:

It is high time to take a close look at how we are teaching our kids, from pre-school to graduate school. Despite what psychologists are telling us about the formative years being the most important for growth, both intellectual and emotional, our childcare environment is not in good shape. It is too expensive for many parents, the quality is not good, and the pay and benefits for the childcare workers are terribly undervalued. Similar issues are also happening in K-12 education. Many skilled, hard-working teachers are leaving the profession due to low pay, respect, and the increasing politicization of school boards, leaving students unready to take on the challenges ahead.

There are also a number of young people who have the thirst and capacity to go to college, yet they cannot afford it. Countless prospective doctors, scientists, and teachers are excluded from higher education due to their family's economic status, and those who need technical training to become mechanics, carpenters, welders, and electricians are going without due to a lack of post-secondary courses.

On top of that, there are 45 million Americans in debt for their college studies, with some owing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Labor and Economy :dollar:

We are facing more income and wealth inequity than we have in the past century. The wealthy get wealthier, and three individuals maintain as much wealth as the 50% of people with the lowest income in the US. Sixty percent of American workers are just trying to get by on a paycheck to paycheck basis, and millions are attempting to survive on abysmal salaries. The federal minimum wage has stayed at $7.25 per hour since 2009 and clearly is not enough to live on.

Workers are endeavouring to join unions to better their lives, but they are being illegally resisted by large companies such as Starbucks, Amazon, McDonalds, and others.

A United America :us:

There is a lot of talk going around that our nation is divided in its views, and this is to some extent accurate. However, on many of the most important issues, the American public has a strong common opinion. People agree that drug prices must be reduced, that healthcare costs must be lowered and made universal, and that education should be of the highest quality and reasonably priced, from pre-school to graduate school. The public also recognize that the minimum wage needs to be raised to a living wage, and that workers must be allowed to join unions without fear of being bullied by employers.

At a moment when too many people are losing faith in democracy, we have to make an effort to regain everyone's trust in our government. It is a matter of Congress showing the American people that our government can work for everyone, not just those in the 1% of high earners, and putting up the courage to stand against powerful special interests and lobbyists. With this goal in mind, let's take action.

I am Senator Bernie Sanders and I represent the state of Vermont. I have been the longest-serving independent politician in Congress and am the ranking member of the Senate budget committee.