Sanders Urges Democrats to Expand Medicare as First Step to Universal Coverage

Sanders, an independent from Vermont and the Senate’s leading Medicare for All advocate, said each proposal could pass with 51 votes through reconciliation, a budget process that allows legislation to clear the Senate without Republican support. Any bill would still face a possible veto from President Donald Trump. “Let’s do it,” Sanders wrote on social media.

His earlier proposals, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, focused largely on lowering the eligibility age to 55. Policy experts have also urged starting with children. Matt Bruenig, founder of the People’s Policy Project, argued in 2020 that Medicare for Kids would bring children already unlikely to pay for their own insurance into the system. He called the policy technically straightforward and said its adoption depended on elected officials’ willingness to act.

Sanders’ proposal lands amid debate over Democrats’ healthcare priorities in the new Congress. Congressional Democrats broadly support reversing Trump-backed Medicaid cuts and restoring enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits that expired, STAT reported. Some voters and newly elected Democrats want the party to go further with Medicare for All. Research cited in the source says the system could save more than 100,000 lives and over $1 trillion a year. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the bill’s lead sponsor in the House, plans to introduce it again.

Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries do not support Medicare for All, although Schumer has previously backed lowering Medicare’s eligibility age. Families USA executive director Anthony Wright called for both immediate assistance and broader reforms, including restoring tax credits, addressing Medicaid cuts, and advancing health-system proposals even if they face a veto.