Bernie Sanders defends eliminating private insurance after Kimmel calls it an 'impossible sell' to voters

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Bernie Sanders criticizes media for attacks on Medicare plan

Sanders campaign calls out media coverage bias; Peter Doocy reports.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., defended his position to eliminate private insurance during his interview with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who expressed concern that such a policy would be an "impossible sell" for voters.

During his Thursday night appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Sanders talked about health care by thanking Kimmel for his widely publicized commentary on the issue in 2017.

"Well, it seems obvious that we should make sure that people have health care," Kimmel said.

"It is obvious to you, it is obvious to me, it is obvious to most people," Sanders responded, "yet we have got to ask ourselves, 'Why is it that we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people, why over 80 million people are uninsured or underinsured... and the answer is- it gets back to the power and the greed of these major multi-national corporations who couldn't care less about working people."

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Kimmel then pressed the 2020 candidate on his Medicare-For-All proposal and how he wants to "do away with private insurance altogether."

"Now I worry that twist makes it an impossible sell for people," Kimmel told the senator.

"No, I don't think so," Sanders shot back. "I think it is exactly what the American people want, polling suggests that."

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He continued, "At the end of the day, we have to make a decision. Do we have a health care system... whose major function is to provide quality care to all people as a right or do we continue with the system we have right now, which is designed to do what?... What is the function of the insurance companies? It's to make as much money as they can."

"Do we expand Medicare, which is a good and popular program for seniors, to all people, or do we continue a dysfunctional, expensive system designed to make billions for the health care industry?" Sanders added.