Defending his "medicare for all" proposal in a recent Democratic presidential debate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders argued the massive health care expansion would actually save the system hundreds of billions of dollars.
PolitiFact went digging into Sanders' claim that in addition to saving the money, it would also save some 68,000 lives. Sanders’ figures come from a study published in February in a British medical journal.
PolitiFact found issues with both parts of Sanders' claim. The study Sanders is citing put the cost of medicare for all at $17 trillion over a decade. PolitiFact found most cost estimates for the program at $30 to $40 trillion over a ten-year period.
Experts agree that expanding access to health insurance would probably reduce early mortality. But a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health found the 68,000 figure is another example of cherry-picking.
Overall Sanders' claim was rated mostly false.
