If primary care funding is increased by $130 billion over the next five years, the U.S. would come close to providing such care to every person in the country, Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a June 28 opinion piece in The Guardian.
An additional $40 billion over the same period would also substantially address the labor shortage in healthcare, said Sanders, chair of the Senate health, education, labor and pensions committee.
Sanders admitted it was an ambitious target, but argued the annual $34 billion investment figure still pales compared to investment in the Defense Department, which received more than twice that in increases last year alone, Becker’s reports.
The U.S. spends less than 7% of its healthcare budget on primary care. Most developed countries spend between 10% and 15%, Sanders pointed out. Read more.
