Far-left Muslim Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed argued that black and Arab patients are routinely treated differently in the healthcare system because they are more likely to rely on government-funded insurance, which he said pays providers less than private plans.
Speaking in support of Medicare for All, El-Sayed said the current reimbursement system effectively places a lower value on care for minority patients, pointing to black children as an example.
“Right now in our country, the vast majority of people of color are funded on government health insurance programs that do not reimburse at the same level as private health insurance,” El-Sayed stated. “So we basically are saying that in our country, care provided for a black child, for example, is reimbursed at nearly half the rate as a white child. We’re basically valuing that child’s body differently.”
El-Sayed said the lower reimbursement rates can lead to discrimination during treatment, adding that he has witnessed it firsthand.
“Now, the challenge when your health care is not reimbursed at the same level is that you end up getting discriminated against at the point of care. And I’ve seen that with my own eyes. It is heart-wrenching,” El-Sayed continued. “But if you have the security of Medicare in your back pocket, no matter who you are, the system doesn’t discriminate against you, because your body commands the same quality of care, the same reimbursement rate as anybody else. It removes that profit incentive.”
He said he believes a Medicare for All system would eliminate those disparities by giving every patient the same coverage and reimbursement rate.
“I have seen too many people from communities where they look like you or look like me being discriminated against at the point of care because of the health care that they have. I want to end that. Medicare for All would end that.”
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