hello everybody and let me take this opportunity to wish everybody a very happy New Year over the past year I've had the privilege of serving as chair of the US Senate committee on health education labor and pensions the help committee and as I leave that position let me reflect a little bit upon where I think our country should be going in health care and the obstacles that we face most importantly and this is the main point that I want to make over and over again we are the wealthiest Nation on Earth there is no rational
reason as the wealthiest Nation on Earth as to why we should not be the healthiest Nation on Earth we should be leading the world in terms of life expectancy disease prevention low and maternal mortality quality of life and in fact human happiness that's what happens when you're the wealthiest country on Earth you could do those things sadly however study after study shows us that despite spending almost twice as much per capita on Healthcare we Trail most of wealthy nations in all of those areas if we're going to reform form our broken and dysfunctional Health Care
system and if we're going to quote unquote make America healthy again the following is some just some of what we must do Medicare for all Health Care is a human right end of discussion the function of a rational Health Care system is to guarantee Quality Health Care to all not huge profits for the insurance company the United States cannot continue to be the only wealthy nation that does not provide Universal Health Care it is not acceptable that while spending almost 18% of our GDP on Health Care millions of Americans delay going to the doctor and
60,000 Americans die each year because they can't of afford the care they need think about that 60,000 of our fellow Americans die every year because they can't afford the medical care they need it is also not acceptable that hundreds of thousands of Americans go bankrupt because of medically related causes you should not have to lose your home and go into financial distress because you have cancer further we must lower the cost of prescription drugs As Americans we should not be paying by far the highest prices in the world for life-saving medications it is absurd that
while the pharmaceutical industry enjoys huge profits and benefits from US taxpayer research one out of four Americans cannot afford to purchase the prescription drugs their doctors prescribe and we sometimes pay as much as 10 times more for the same exact drug that is sold to people in other countries we must cut and we can cut prescription drug prices in half by making sure that we pay no more for medicine than the Europeans or Canadians pay Paid Family and Medical Leave workers should not have to go to work when they are sick doesn't seem like a
terribly radical idea to me mothers and fathers should have ample time to stay home with their newborn babies you know in some countries in Europe when you have a baby mom and dad get six months time off the bond with that baby a parent should not get fired when they stay home with a sick child we must guarantee at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave to every worker in America not a radical idea that exists all over the world we must reform the the food industry large food corporations should not make wrecked
breaking profits by making our children addicted to processed foods which then make them overweight and prone to diabetes and other diseases as a start we must ban junk food ads targeted to kids and put strong warning labels on products high in sugar salt and saturated fat longer term we can we build Rural America with Family Farms that are producing healthy nutritious food we must raise the minimum wage to a living wage yeah that's a health care issue millions of workers should not have to worry about how they'll pay the rent or buy food for their
kids workingclass Americans live far shorter lives than the rich because of the stress of trying to survive on a paycheck to paycheck existence stress kills stress makes us sick we must raise the minimum wage to at least $17 an hour and allow the American people the opportunity relax just a little bit and some of that incredible economic pressure that millions are facing we must lower the work week to 32 hours with no loss of pay people will live longer and healthier lives if they can spend more time with family and friends and have the opportunity
to enjoy their Leisure Time advancements in technology Automation and artificial intelligence must benefit workers not just billionaires on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley we must come combat the epidemic of loneliness isolation and mental illness too many Americans are struggling with intense anxiety and what the doctors call diseases of Despair and that is alcoholism drug addiction and even suicide not only do we need to greatly increase access to mental health care we must rebuild our sense of community and create a culture into which we better enjoy and appreciate each other as human beings we must
also take a very hard look at the impacts smartphones and social media are having on our mental and physical health we must address the climate and environmental crisis that we face every American is affected when the Earth's temperature rises and the air we breathe is polluted climate crisis and extreme weather disturbances will cause more widespread suffering and disease economic disruptions and population dislocation air pollution is a major risk factor for respiratory and heart disease cancer and other health problems the fossil fuel industry cannot be allowed to continue making us sick shortening our lives and destroying
the planet we must create a highquality public educational system lifelong education is a human right and should be obtainable for all in a wealthy Nation like ours Health life expectancy and economic well-being are often tied to educational attainment instead of spending a trillion dollars a year on the military we should make certain that all Americans from Child Care to graduate school are able to enjoy free high quality education and job training let's be clear the way forward to creating a healthy Society is not radical nor is it complicated many of the components that I've outlined
right now they already exist in one form or another in numerous countries throughout the world these are not radical ideas our real problem is not so much a health care crisis as it is a political and economic crisis we need to end the unprecedented level of corporate greed that we are experiencing we need to create a government and an economy that works for all of us and not just the wealthy and the powerful few thank you all very much
