Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday introduced Medicare for All legislation that would virtually eliminate the private insurance industry and provide comprehensive healthcare to every American at a lower overall cost than the current for-profit system.

“Today we say to the private health insurance companies, whether they like it or not, the United States will join every other major country on earth and guarantee healthcare to all people as a right,” the Vermont senator and 2020 presidential contender wrote in an email to supporters.

“All Americans are entitled to go to the doctor when they’re sick and not go bankrupt after staying in the hospital.”
—Sen. Bernie Sanders

“All Americans are entitled to go to the doctor when they’re sick and not go bankrupt after staying in the hospital,” Sanders added. “If we are serious about providing high-quality and affordable healthcare to every man, woman, and child in this country, the only real solution is a Medicare for All, single-payer system that provides healthcare to all Americans.”

In addition to the full 100-page Medicare for All Act of 2019 (pdf) and a summary of the bill (pdf), Sanders’ office also released a detailed explanation (pdf) of potential ways to finance the plan.

Sanders pointed to the exorbitant real-world costs of the current for-profit healthcare system when asked about the price-tag of his bill in a CBS interview that aired Wednesday morning.

“What’s expensive and what’s unsustainable is the current healthcare system,” Sanders said. “We are spending twice as much per capita as any other nation.”

More than a dozen Democratic senators signed on as original co-sponsors of Sanders’ legislation, including presidential contenders Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), and Kamala Harris (Calif.).