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[Reuters] Bernie Sanders proposes plan to cancel $81 billion in existing past-due medical debt for Americans

Deleted member 3812

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,821
This would be really awesome if this could actually happen.

Bernie Sanders has just proposed a plan to cancel $81 billion in existing past-due medical debt for Americans by having the government negotiate and pay off past-due medical bills that have been reported to credit agencies and this plan would also repeal some elements of the 2005 Bankruptcy reform bill and allow other existing and future medical debt to be discharged:


August 31, 2019

U.S. presidential contender Bernie Sanders proposed a plan on Saturday to cancel $81 billion in existing past-due medical debt for Americans, but offered no details on how it would be financed.

Sanders, an independent U.S. senator from Vermont, said in a statement that under his plan, the government would negotiate and pay off past-due medical bills that have been reported to credit agencies. The proposal, he said, would also repeal some elements of the 2005 Bankruptcy reform bill and allow other existing and future medical debt to be discharged.

"In the United States of America, your financial life and future should not be destroyed because you or a member of your family gets sick," said Sanders. "That is unacceptable. I am sick and tired of seeing over 500,000 Americans declare bankruptcy each year because they cannot pay off the outrageous cost of a medical emergency or a hospital stay."

According to Sanders, medical debt is the leading cause of consumer bankruptcy, with more than half a million Americans filing due to medical expenses each year. He said the 2005 Bankruptcy reform bill made it difficult to discharge medical debt by imposing strict means tests and eliminated fundamental consumer protections for Americans.

"It also trapped families with medical debt in long-term poverty, mandated that they pay for credit counseling before filing for bankruptcy, and increased the need for expensive legal services when filing a case for medical bankruptcy," the senator said.
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Namtox

Namtox

Member
Nov 3, 2017
980
Everytime I see one of these plans I love the idea but then realize the greedy fucks in power will never let something like this ever come to pass.
 
Zelda

Zelda

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,079
Although it would be amazing if all medical debt and student loan debt could be forgiven just like that, it just seems unrealistic. Bernie is over-promising imo.

"but offered no details on how it would be financed." - This is a very critical piece to the puzzle.
 
Doom

Doom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,818
New Jersey
Cmon Bernie, don't go backwards like this. You can't say this kind of shit and then offer almost no details on how.
 
Tamanon

Tamanon

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
19,729
Not really a plan. Wonder what the actual mechanism would be. And would that just make people more willing to not pay their debt that they are current on?

Like the student loan thing it's basically just attempting to buy votes unless there's some systemic change in how stuff is charged or financed.

But, less debt is good. Just seems dumb to go very piecemeal about it.
 
Tukarrs

Tukarrs

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,823
The military budget for 2020 is set at 738 billion dollars, an increase of 53 Billion compared to 2019.

The Pentagon asked for 718 Billion in March, so of course Congress would give them more than they needed.

Somehow people never seem to wonder where that money comes from.

There's more than enough money from the rich to justify these things.
 
ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

Member
Oct 25, 2017
59,687
1828515.jpg
 
radioactivez0r

radioactivez0r

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,278
I can't believe there's $81 billion with a b in past due medical bills in this country. That's so stupid.

According to Sanders, medical debt is the leading cause of consumer bankruptcy, with more than half a million Americans filing due to medical expenses each year.
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I'm surprised Reuters didn't just verify this themselves; it's like they want to point fingers.
 
Parthenios

Parthenios

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
13,615
Namtox said:
Everytime I see one of these plans I love the idea but then realize the greedy fucks in power will never let something like this ever come to pass.
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They may actually take to this one? Most medical creditors know they'll never see a dime of most of the debt they buy, so they'll take almost anything to settle. If the government showed up with billions, even to settle trillions of debt, they'd line up eagerly.
 

Critch

Banned
Dec 10, 2017
1,360
Zelda said:
Although it would be amazing if all medical debt and student loan debt could be forgiven just like that, it just seems unrealistic. Bernie is over-promising imo.

"but offered no details on how it would be financed." - This is a very critical piece to the puzzle.
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Bernie, overpromise? Nahhhh that doesn't sound like him at ALL
 
Vic Damone Jr.

Vic Damone Jr.

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,603
Tukarrs said:
The military budget for 2020 is set at 738 billion dollars, an increase of 53 Billion compared to 2019.

The Pentagon asked for 718 Billion in March, so of course Congress would give them more than they needed.

Somehow people never seem to wonder where that money comes from.

There's more than enough money from the rich to justify these things.
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This.

How many times we bail out companies and industries but the Americana people getting a price of the pie is too much.
 
Titik

Titik

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,490
I'm not a big fan of Bernie, the man himself but i really like this. Actually I love this.

Even if it fails or if it gets opposed, it puts the opponent on record that they are for bankrupting your grandma or poor aunt who just happened to have a heart attack.
 
Bonafide

Bonafide

Member
Oct 11, 2018
936
Tukarrs said:
The military budget for 2020 is set at 738 billion dollars, an increase of 53 Billion compared to 2019.

The Pentagon asked for 718 Billion in March, so of course Congress would give them more than they needed.

Somehow people never seem to wonder where that money comes from.

There's more than enough money from the rich to justify these things.
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its almost as if when people ask "how are you going to fund it" theyre not actually being genuine

couldnt be
 
GameAddict411

GameAddict411

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,523
When people ask me why I hate Bernie Sanders, it's this sort of crap. Promising people the impossible without actually explaining how he will achieve it. The government has no authority to cancel private loans of any kind. They have to pay with tax money or other revenues.
 

Gyro Zeppeli

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,289
GameAddict411 said:
When people ask me why I hate Bernie Sanders, it's this sort of crap. Promising people the impossible without actually explaining how he will achieve it. The government has no authority to cancel private loans of any kind. They have to pay with tax money or other revenues.
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The rich and powerful have convinced you that it's an impossible dream.
 
BobLoblaw

BobLoblaw

This Guy Helps
Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,313
This guy would such a disaster if he had his way. Cancel all debt. Why didn't anyone else think of that?
 
Tya

Tya

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,662
GameAddict411 said:
When people ask me why I hate Bernie Sanders, it's this sort of crap. Promising people the impossible without actually explaining how he will achieve it. The government has no authority to cancel private loans of any kind. They have to pay with tax money or other revenues.
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Who said anything about canceling loans? You don't even understand what you hate.
 
Boiled Goose

Boiled Goose

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
9,999
Zelda said:
Although it would be amazing if all medical debt and student loan debt could be forgiven just like that, it just seems unrealistic. Bernie is over-promising imo.

"but offered no details on how it would be financed." - This is a very critical piece to the puzzle.
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Politically realistic? Probably not.

Is there enough money in the country to do this. ABSO FUCKING LUTELY. Countries with much smaller economies and lower gdp per capita offer free healthcare and free college.
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
29,946
Sounds cool, but I do worry about the whole "no financing details" thing. I worry that it will hurt him down the line because even though it's clear to a closer observer that there is a plan, to the general public it won't be clear and there are few things centrists love more than voting against increases in government spending. It has become such a common detail of proposals from both Sanders and Warren's campaigns that I worry it's going to become a meme that does more harm than good, even though at its core there is nothing wrong with it
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 3812

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,821
WaPo received a statement from a Columbia University economics professor telling WaPo that Sanders' plans is economically feasible:


Jeffrey Sachs, a Columbia University economics professor who advised Sanders in his 2016 run and supports him this time, said achieving ambitious goals on health-care, the environment and other matters are economically feasible.

"Our national income can do all of that," he wrote in an email, "with a better distribution of income and a better allocation of responsibilities between the public and private sectors. In the end, the budget would be a higher share of GDP, and private consumption of healthcare and education would be much lower."
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Tya

Tya

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,662
BobLoblaw said:
I've been a registered Democrat for over 20 years idiot. Not all Democrats are enamored with your candidate.
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Then why do you have a dumb ass Republican take? How the fuck did you get the idea that he is looking to "cancel all debt?" Explain to me how you got the idea in your head that he's looking to "cancel all debt."
 
BobLoblaw

BobLoblaw

This Guy Helps
Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,313
Tya said:
Then why do you have a dumb ass Republican take? How the fuck did you get the idea that he is looking to "cancel all debt?"
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Thinking that arbitrarily cancelling $81 billion dollars in debt (without saying how) while simultaneously proposing $30-40 trillion dollars in spending on a Medicare for all plan and $1.6 trillion in student loan debt forgiveness sounds like a good idea to you? I'm an American first and a Democrat second. If you can't tell me how all of that shit is gonna be paid for, then get the fuck out.
 
Starwing

Starwing

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 31, 2018
4,122
That's actually a smaller number than I expected.
Tukarrs said:
The military budget for 2020 is set at 738 billion dollars, an increase of 53 Billion compared to 2019.

The Pentagon asked for 718 Billion in March, so of course Congress would give them more than they needed.

Somehow people never seem to wonder where that money comes from.

There's more than enough money from the rich to justify these things.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yup. We're already wasting god knows how many billions on a new stealth bomber plane from Northrop Grumman and our current B-2's we bought from those guys are barely 2 decades in service. I don't even think Russia or China can afford half the fleet of stealth fighters we have, and that's including the billions we wasted getting the F-35 off the ground. I think we can spare a few planes to wipe the debt.
 
sleepnaught

sleepnaught

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
4,538
Starwing said:
That's actually a smaller number than I expected.

Yup. We're already wasting god knows how many billions on a new stealth bomber plane from Northrop Grumman and our current B-2's we bought from those guys are barely 2 decades in service. I don't even think Russia or China can afford half the fleet of stealth fighters we have, and that's including the billions we wasted getting the F-35 off the ground. I think we can spare a few planes to wipe the debt.
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B-2s are 30 years old now, they're going to be over 40 by the time the new ones enter service. B-52s are even older. I do agree, though, the defense budget needs a sharp cut.
 
maxxpower

maxxpower

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,950
California
Surprised that people think we can't bail out the common folk when we have the money to bail out corporations all the time.
 
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