Author Thom Hartmann told Hill.TV that racism and the power of corporate America have been some of the biggest impediments to the United States establishing a national health care system.
In an interview with Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Hartmann said racism played a major role in the opposition to a national health care system over the years. During the late 19th century, he said, some Americans believed that if Black people were not given access to health care then the race would die out.
“Racism, up until the 70s, was largely driving this, and largely drove much of the Tea Party opposition to ObamaCare,” said Hartmann, a New York Times bestseller and author of “The Hidden History of American Healthcare: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich.”
Today, he said, major pharmaceutical corporations are now one of the biggest driving forces behind opposition to national health care.
Hartmann’s comments come as Democrats look to expand Medicare eligibility by lowering the minimum age for participating in the federal program. Opponents to such an expansion warn that it’s a slippery slope to “Medicare for All” and the kind of national health care favored by progressives.
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