All month on cspan, we are featuring the winners of our studentcam documentary competitions. Middle and high schools students created videos answering the question, what issue do you most want the 2020 president ial candidates to address . Our second Prize Middle School award goes to eighth graders from Takoma Park Middle School in takoma park, maryland, where cspan is available through comcast. Their winning entry is titled the price of life. Mr. Biden health care should be a right, not a privilege in america. Senator sanders the function of a rational Healthcare System is to provide quality care to all. Senator Warren Health care is a basic human right. Health care has become a staple of our society. Its the reason why we dont have to worry about a scratch, a bruise, or a scraped knee when we are playing our favorite sport. With everything from a lifethreatening surgery to an overthecounter prescription, health care is the governing force, our shield against all types of illnesses. As the dynamic American Population shifts, so should health care. People are living longer now than when the country began. The Life Expectancy was in peoples 50s. Now, lots of people are in their 80s and 90s, so we clearly need to make the changes in the Health Care System to deal with that demographic shift toward an older population. So, what does americas Health Care System look like today . The good news about our Health Care System now as it stands is, weve got over 90 of the population covered with some form of health insurance, whether that be through their employer, about 55 of people through Medicare Program for people 65 and older, whether it be through the medicaid program, Childrens Health insurance program, military health. There is a number of different sources where people get their coverage, and we have done a decent job with over 90 of the country covered. I would say the best thing about whats going on in our Health Care System today is that with the Affordable Care act, we have developed a social recognition that we need to figure out how to provide health care to every single person. Besides the more glamorous and budding side of health care and the benefits, there is a darker side, as well. Currently, in the u. S. , the price of accessing the Health Care System is soaring to record high numbers. A 2017 report from the center for medicare and Medicaid Services shows that the average american paid more than twice the per capita average for health care than any other developed nation. There are a lot of problems in the Health Care System. It is way too expensive. Part of the problem is prescription drugs are way too expensive, the cost of health care generally is a problem. According to a recent report from the organization for Economic Cooperation and development, americans on average spend about 1200 on prescription drugs in a single year, which is more than what is spent in any other developed nation. So why are these drugs so expensive . A big factor in the cost of these drugs is the arduous task of experimentation, as well as clinical trials. Well, when you think about why drugs cost so much and why innovative drugs cost so much, it really is the fact that the Drug Development cost is so expensive and so risky and unpredictable. The question about how drug prices are set is an interesting one in the united states. Much of Drug Development is about failure. In other words, even into the human testing stage, about nine out of every 10 drugs fail. Even if that one drug gets approved, it may not succeed in the market. Because another drug may be better or may be used more. And so Drug Companies in the u. S. Get to set the price of their drugs, and they take all those factors into account and also what people are willing to pay for it. Although some prices for prescription drugs are ridiculously high, some patients have no choice but to foot the bill. These are lifesaving medications. They are not optional. And people should never have to make the unthinkable decision about whether to purchase their medication or to put food on the table or gas in their car. Its clear that in america, the Health Care System is very expensive. But what about other countries . We have Drug Companies that are charging americans three, or five, or even 10 times as much for the same prescription drugs that they are selling in other countries like canada or the u. K. Or france or germany or japan, because there are price controls there. There are ways of regulating it, and we dont have anything like that. And so, the cost of prescription drugs is really through the roof for a lot of americans. It is clear that america has a lot to learn from these other countries, as many of them have objectively better Health Care Systems than the u. S. Although the future of Health Care Still remains murky and unclear, there is one thing that will remain Constant Health care will continue to act as the lifeblood of america. We live in the richest nation in the history of nations. This is the greatest country on earth, and i refuse to believe that we cannot find a solution that allows every american to afford the medications that they need. President trump this is the first time in 51 years that prices have actually gone down for prescription drugs. So thats quite an achievement. Senator warren the first thing i am going to do, day one as president , is defend the Affordable Care act and the second thing i will do is bring down the cost of prescription drugs. You can watch each winning studentcam documentary online at studentcam. Org. Cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up this morning, health es shannon will discuss how hospitals are reacting to the coronavirus outbreak. William reinhardt look at the impact of federal regulations on covid19 response