especially programs like home health care can be the difference between life and death. my guest is one of those people. in 2016 he was diagnosed with als. since his diagnosis he has dedicated his life to fighting for health care for all americans and last year interviewed then candidate biden about medicare for all. so my question is do you see a future where health insurance is no longer tied to employment? will america ever have a single payor system where health care is guaranteed as a human right? health care guaranteed as a human right but taking away the right to have a private plan if you want a private plan i disagree with. i spoke with him earlier today about his struggle with a.l.s., his political journey, and inspiring activism chronicled in the new documentary film not going quietly. was there a moment when you were diagnosed with als where you thought, i have to focus on my health now, on myself? i simply can t pull off doing what i ve always done.
presumably going on its face is popular. the idea of a single payor system loses popularity among the general electorate. of all, bernie sanders, he s a true believer in this idea, and has embraced the idea, yes, private insurance will go away. but it will balance out in the long run. you ve seen how other candidates have had to tread around those popular details. biden has gone after kamala harris for her health care plplan saying they re not cam lal harris is not up front about the fact that this could raise taxes for the middle class. the former vice president s plan would actually not extend coverage for all, that s not the goal here. but it really is a dividing line between the democratic party. we saw that in both nights of the cnn debate. there s no resolution on what
became ill. reporter: in 2016, his was a lone voice. but many democrats are now getting in line behind bernie sanders, who has long called for a single payor system. i m with bernie for medicare for all. how does this differ from what senator sanders is proposing? i think they re very similar. in a single payer system, everyone would be automatically enrolled in a government-run health care program like medicare. reporter: it would cover doctor s visits, hospitalizations, including hearing aids, dental, vision, these candidates say. there would be some co-pay for brand name prescription drugs. a lit must test is starting to take shape. would it also eliminate private insurance as we know it? who here would abolish their private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan? reporter: at the debates only senators sanders and harris, and
medicare for all shows of all voters a small majority support a medicare for all. 53%. 77% of democrats do. half 6 independents do. 27% of republicans do. it does seem support for medicare for all or something like it is a winning strategy for democratic candidates. well, i think there s three questions. one is, where do people stand on medicare or all of our government-run single payor system. that s the first question. the second is if you re in favor of medicare for all, government-run system, would you be in favor of that if you knew that private insurance was going to go away. what we found in our poll, there s overwhelming support among the democratic party, self-identified democrats and democratic leaning independents for a medicare for all kind of program. and two-thirds of democrats say
political revolution. and we say to the private health insurance companies, whether you like it or not, the united states is going to join every other major country on earth and guarantee health care to all people as a right. and you can spend all of the money you want against us, we will have a medicare for all single payor system. and today we say to the pharmaceutical industry that you will no longer charge the american people the highest prices in the world by far for the medicine they desperately