Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared on CBS's 'Face The Nation' on Sunday to discuss health care reform.
"Nobody has ever suggested that the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, was perfect," he said. "But it did put 20 million people into the ranks of the insured."
"It is very hard for Ryan or anybody else not to deny that what they are bringing forth is far, far, far worse than Obamacare, and that its primary purpose is massive tax breaks for the very wealthiest people in this country," he said.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Well, I sure hope not, John. It is an absolute disaster. It is a disgrace.
And, by the way, this really has nothing to do with health care. What this has everything to do with is a massive shift of wealth from working people and middle-income people to the very richest people in this country.
It is a $275 billion tax break for the top 2 percent. Millionaires will get about $50,000 a year in tax breaks, while at the same time, some five to 10 million people are going to lose their health insurance, premiums are going to soar.
The AARP says that if you're 64 years of age, and you're making about $25,000 a year, you are going to pay up to $7,000 more for your health insurance. They are going to defund Planned Parenthood. Deny over two million women the right to choose the health care that they need.
They're going to decimate Medicaid, which is why the American Medical Association, the AMA, and the American Hospital Association oppose it, in addition to the AARP.
This is a disgrace. And, by the way, they are so cowardly that they want to go forward before the CBO even gives an estimate as to what it will cost and how many people will lose their insurance.
DICKERSON: Well, a lot of charges there.
The speaker says the CBO will be giving, the accountants in Congress will be giving their score on Monday, so it will be able to be a part of the debate.
But let me ask you this question about how many people will lose coverage. What Speaker Ryan says is, it is an unfair comparison, because the people who have coverage now have coverage in a rickety system that is getting worse, premiums are going up, insurance companies are dropping out of the system, so it is unfair to compare the people who have it now, because the system is falling apart.
SANDERS: Oh, really? Well, five to 10 million people are going to have no health insurance at all.
Nobody has ever suggested that the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, was perfect, but it did put 20 million people into the ranks of the insured. In my view, and what the American people want is an improvement on Obamacare, not the decimation of Obamacare, and throwing so many people off of health insurance and raising premiums substantially.
It is very hard for Ryan or anybody else not to deny that what they are bringing forth is far, far, far worse than Obamacare, and that its primary purpose is massive tax breaks for the very wealthiest people in this country.
