Recently, US Senator Bernie Sanders issued this surprising tweet:
Developed nations with the best healthcare, family leave, vacation & retirement benefits:
1. Denmark
2. The Netherlands
3. Finland
4. Sweden
5. Switzerland
6. Norway
7. Germany
8. UK
9. Canada
10. Japan30. United States – Dead last
We must end this international embarrassment
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 16, 2021
It’s surprising because the top 7 countries operate under multi-payer universal coverage systems while the single-payer universal coverage systems favored by Mr. Sanders don’t show up until numbers 8 and 9. Is it possible Mr. Sanders doesn’t know the difference?
Either way, we hope CA legislators know the difference. If they don’t, they might read The Healing of America, by TR Reid, and/or Who Has The World’s Best Health Care, by Zeke Emanuel. (I’m happy to share my notes and/or to allow legislators to sit in on the Health Policy & Reform class I co-teach with former State Assemblymember Joe Nation at Stanford if that would be helpful.) With >90 percent of Californians currently covered, we need well-informed legislators to help get us to 100.
