Thread by @chrisjacobsHC

THREAD: As folks are focusing on #CoronavirusOutbreak, let's pause for a moment to contemplate what @BernieSanders' #SinglePayer legislation would (or wouldn't) do to our ability to respond... 1/

thefederalist.com/2020/02/14/how…

@BernieSanders First off, it's worth remembering that @NHSuk goes through its traditional "winter crisis" because of -- wait for it! -- the flu. The flu comes every year, of course, but years of underfunding means British hospitals have next-to-no spare capacity to treat patients... 2/

@BernieSanders @NHSuk Consider this headline from two years ago, when @NHSuk postponed 55K operations, and @theresa_may had to apologize personally for Britain's health care fiasco... 3/ dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5…

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may This is the @NHSuk annual "crisis:" Patients waiting on gurneys in ERs for hours to get admitted into regular wards, ambulances circling hospitals waiting to drop off patients... 4/

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5…

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may One @NHSuk ER doctor had to apologize for "Third World conditions of the department due to overcrowding."

Again, all this because of...the flu -- which we know hits every year. Imagine the impact of a #CoronavirusOutbreak. 5/

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5…

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may What would @BernieSanders' #SinglePayer bill due to ensure adequate funding to prepare for a #CoronavirusOutbreak or other pandemic? In a word, very little.

Neither the House nor Senate #SinglePayer bills dedicate funding towards pandemic preparedness. 6/

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may Section 601 of both the @BernieSanders and @PramilaJayapal #SinglePayer bills do create a “reserve fund” to “respond to the costs of treating an epidemic, pandemic, natural disaster, or other such health emergency.”

BUT...they don't include any actual dollars in the fund. 7/

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may @PramilaJayapal Instead of having Congress spell out the amount of funding for issues like pandemic preparedness -- which is Congress' job, given its constitutional "power of the purse" -- @PramilaJayapal and @BernieSanders would let @HHSGov make all those funding decisions unilaterally. 8/

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may @PramilaJayapal @HHSGov Apart from being an abdication of Congress' constitutional role, it's funny that Democrats criticizing @realDonaldTrump for not requesting enough #Coronavirus funding want to give the President MORE POWER to determine that funding unilaterally. Hypocrisy much? 9/

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may @PramilaJayapal @HHSGov @realDonaldTrump Third point: If you think @HHSGov bureaucrats will make good decisions about pandemic funding vis-à-vis other priorities, they won't. Consider @BarackObama Administration's funding choices prior to 2014 #Ebola outbreak... 10/

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may @PramilaJayapal @HHSGov @realDonaldTrump @BarackObama Of nearly $3 billion in mandatory @CDCgov funding via #Obamacare's Prevention and Public Health Fund from 2010-2014, @BarackObama Administration spent only about 6% on building epidemiology and laboratory capacity. politico.com/magazine/story…

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may @PramilaJayapal @HHSGov @realDonaldTrump @BarackObama @CDCgov Instead, @BarackObama Administration @HHSGov spent nearly three times as much ($517 million) for grants focused on objectives like “improving neighborhood grocery stores” and “promoting better sidewalks and street lighting.” 12/ cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/pr…

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may @PramilaJayapal @HHSGov @realDonaldTrump @BarackObama @CDCgov While the other projects @BarackObama Administration funded instead of #Ebola research might have merit, I think preventing against a pandemic represents a higher priority than "promoting better sidewalks." And I think most people would agree. 13/

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may @PramilaJayapal @HHSGov @realDonaldTrump @BarackObama @CDCgov To sum up:
1. @NHSuk can't cope well with the flu, let alone #CoronavirusOutbreak.
2. @BernieSanders' #SinglePayer bill doesn't dedicate real dollars to preventing pandemics.
3. The officials @BernieSanders' bill lets make funding decisions have made bad ones previously. 14/

@BernieSanders @NHSuk @theresa_may @PramilaJayapal @HHSGov @realDonaldTrump @BarackObama @CDCgov I discuss all of this information on #CoronavirusOutbreak and #SinglePayer in my recent @FDRLST piece. Feel free to check it out! 15/15

thefederalist.com/2020/02/14/how…