Bernie Sanders sends warning message to the UK
United States Senator Bernie Sanders has warned Britons against allowing the NHS to become more like the US healthcare system.
Sanders was speaking at an event in London on Friday (30 May 2025), when he compared the US healthcare system with that of the UK, imploring Britons to not allow the National Health Service to turn into something like the healthcare system in the United States.
“I know the NHS has its issues; there’s a lot of debate about where you want to go,” Sanders said.
“But anybody who suggests to you that the way to go is anything close to the American healthcare system is telling you a terrible untruth.”
“We do not have a national healthcare system. We have 85 million people who are uninsured or underinsured with high deductibles. Many people in the UK don’t even know what a deductible is. What it is, is that you may have insurance, but you have to pay the first $10,000 out of your own pocket before the insurance kicks in,” Sanders said.
He pointed out that while the UK’s NHS is facing funding difficulties and has struggled to efficiently deliver the care it promises, the service it provides to the nation is far better than the US healthcare industry, which fails to prevent thousands of deaths while costing more per person.
“In America, we are spending more than twice as much per person on healthcare than you are,” Sanders said.
“68,000 people a year die because they cannot afford to go to a doctor when they get sick, and one out of four Americans cannot afford the prescription drugs their doctors prescribe.”
NHS eyed by US tech firms and Reform
The NHS, which comprises a large portion of the public services spend incurred by the government, has attracted the attention of US tech firms for data partnerships, as well as parties within the UK who are considering an overhaul of the healthcare system.
In November 2023, US tech firm Palantir led a consortium of partners who were awarded a £480-million contract to create a federated data platform for the NHS. Palantir is a data analytics and technology company founded by Peter Thiel, whose clients include the United States military, the NSA, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The awarding of this contract raised alarm bells for many concerned over the NHS’s future, with Amnesty International calling at the time for transparency over public procurement and assurances that the US tech firm would not monetise health data collected from British patients.
Reform UK has been attacked by the incumbent Labour government for its consideration of changing the way the NHS works.
While Labour has cited Nigel Farage’s statements that he is open to considering an insurance-based model as evidence of his stance on reforming the health service, Reform has stated on social media that it will never charge citizens in the UK to use the NHS.
Farage has mentioned that his party is open to considering different funding models for the NHS, including a French-style insurance model.
This type of healthcare system would see costs covered by a combination of state-provided health insurance and supplementary private insurance or patient co-payments.
Under this type of system, patients would typically have to pay upfront for care and then apply for reimbursement from the national health insurance fund, as well as their private insurance provider if necessary.
