On Monday's Amanpour & Co. on PBS and CNN International, host Christiane Amanpour gave an unchallenged forum to two Democratic guests to push for a universal health care program in the U.S.
She even suggested that a national health plan similar to that of the United Kingdom would be beneficial during the pandemic in spite of the COVID-19 death rate being substantially higher in the U.K. than in the U.S.
Amanpour posed: "Do you think … that had there been a national health care system like we have in the U.K. or other parts of Europe, coronavirus would have been dealt with in a different way?"
Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm -- who is also a CNN contributor -- talked up socialized medicine as she responded:
FORMER GOVERNOR JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D-MI): Yeah, I mean, clearly, the fact that so many people are uninsured and that health care is tied to work, and all these people are out of work, and the gaps in the safety net that exist right now clearly it would have been better if there had been a system like there is in the U.K. or in Canada, but we don't have that system unfortunately,
It was not mentioned that in the United Kingdom, the current per capita death toll from COVID-19 stands at almost 70 per 100,000 residents -- or 46,600 out of a population of 67 million.
By contrast, in the U.S., the death toll currently stands at 50 per 100,000 residents -- or 164 million out of a nation of 330 million residents.
After Granholm encouraged the election of Joe Biden as President so that a "Medicare for All" plan can be enacted, Amanpour went to her other guest, Saikat Chakrabarti -- former campaign manager, chief of staff, and social-media guru to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- and asked if he agreed with her that electing Biden would help lead to Medicare for All, leading him to, not surprisingly, voice his agreement: "Absolutely we need to, at this point, elect Joe Biden..."
A bit later, Granholm described Biden's plans for enacting more government-run health care and pushed for it:
There's no doubt that the current system does not work, but what he is doing is building on a program that did work -- that Donald Trump and his administration has attempted to dismantle. And there is unity now on the steps forward. I think what the Affordable Care Act is and what Joe Biden's willingness to make adjustments signifies is that we will, as a country, have universal health care. It's just a question of when and how much it costs and who's in Congress to be able to make that happen,
Rather than challenge her arguments, Amanpour's immediate response was to agree that the Democratic plan was needed: "And boy does this pandemic show the necessity for that."
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Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Monday, August 10, Amanpour & Co. on PBS and CNN International:
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Do you think -- both of you -- that had there been a, you know, national health care system like we have in the UK or other parts of Europe, coronavirus would have been dealt with in a different way? Let me ask you, Governor Granholm, having been an executive of the state.
FORMER GOVERNOR JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D-MI): Yeah, I mean, clearly, the fact that so many people are uninsured and that health care is tied to work, and all these people are out of work, and the gaps in the safety net that exist right now clearly it would have been better if there had been a system like there is in the UK or in Canada, but we don't have that system unfortunately,
There is an opportunity, though, to do much better by people in this election. And the best way, I think, for progressives to get Medicare for All, for example, is to elect Joe Biden and elect as many Democrats as possible to Congress so we retake the Senate and expand the House majority. There's no progress on health care, though, if Biden loses.
AMANPOUR: Saikat, how do you answer that? But also, your two wings have been in close touch about trying to hammer out positions before the conventions -- before the election. Do you agree with what the governor, Jennifer Granholm, just said? The best way to get Medicare for All is to elect Joe Biden now?
SAIKAT CHAKRABARTI, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF FOR ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Absolutely we need to, at this point, elect Joe Biden...
(…)
GRANHOLM: It also focused the taskforce on strengthening health care in the wake of the pandemic, including providing access to free or low-cost coverage through a public option and automatically enrolling Americans who are already enrolled in other safety net programs like Medicaid into the public option through the duration of the health care crisis. Sso there was a lot of movement in that direction, including prescription drug reform, negotiating with the prescription drug companies.
There's no doubt that the current system does not work, but what he is doing is building on a program that did work -- that Donald Trump and his administration has attempted to dismantle. And there is unity now on the steps forward. I think what the Affordable Care Act is and what Joe Biden's willingness to make adjustments signifies is that we will, as a country, have universal health care. It's just a question of when and how much it costs and who's in Congress to be able to make that happen,
AMANPOUR: And boy does this pandemic show the necessity for that. Saikat Chakrabarti, let me just ask you, you know, Jennifer Granholm, governor, said there is unity now, but -- and I had Bernie Sanders -- Senator Sanders on my show, and he pronounced himself satisfied with the huge amount of this taskforce results.
But, as you know, there are some 360 or more Sanders delegates who have signed a petition vowing not to support any platform without Medicare for All. What does that say to you? Is there going to be an issue over it during the convention? Is this just sort of a statement by some of them? Or is it going to become a major problem?
