Bernie Sanders: Medicare for All

And don't expect FDA to cozy up to industry under a Sanders administration.

Qmed Staff

Medical device companies will likely face more vigorous regulation if Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-VT, becomes president. The self-described democratic socialist, who is giving Hillary Clinton a run for her money in the Democratic nomination, has already suggested just as much with his move to delay a Senate vote to confirm Robert Califf, MD, as FDA commissioner. Sanders questions whether Califf would stand up to drug companies instead of being cozy with them; he likely wouldn't want an FDA that's overly friendly with device companies, either.

Also expect the federal government to become even more involved in healthcare than it already is. Sanders calls the Affordable Care Act a "critically important step towards the goal of universal healthcare," but he wants the federal government to go even further and simply provide Medicare for everyone.

Obamacare already has U.S. health providers doing more to control costs, including when it comes to medical devices. Expect that to happen even more if Sanders' plan became law. "Creating a single, public insurance system will go a long way towards getting healthcare spending under control," Sanders' website says.

Much of Sanders' universal healthcare system would be paid by higher taxes on employers and the rich.

When it comes to R&D, Sanders would want to make it more independent of the market. For example, he has proposed a Medical Innovation Prize Fund in the past.

Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore