Knowles: That is the reason that people,
when they actually want care,
living in Cuba, living in Canada,
living in the United States,
when even their private insurance
that they're forced to buy doesn't cover it,
that's why they come to the United States
because we're the leaders.
Student: I heard you mention
a lot of things about socialism.
Knowles: Yes.
Student: I'm for more of a mixed economy,
and I am for Medicare for All.
Knowles: That seems off.
it seems like you want to become an old person.
Why do you want to become an old person?
Why do you want to use
old ideas like socialism?
Student: No, that's giving everyone the right to healthcare,
health insurance.
And right now, our current system,
we have 600,000 bankruptcies.
People file for bankruptcy under our current system.
Our current system is not cost-effective,
Knowles: I agree.
Student: It cost $33 trillion
over a 10 year period from right now,
and a recent study by the Mercatus Center actually found
that the Medicare for All system in the Senate
would save $2.1 trillion over a 10 year period
from 2022 to 2031.
So why can't you get behind that?
Knowles: Well, when we we're talking about the costs
of these systems, one has to be very careful.
I was promised certain costs for Obamacare,
and there was a lot of fuzzy math
because the taxes kicked in early
and the benefits didn't kick in quite so early.
So, the question is two-fold.
One, economically, you're saying
that the current healthcare regime is not efficient
and therefore, the socialist regime would be more efficient.
That may actually be the case.
That's not an argument for socialism, though,
that's an argument for liberalization.
That's for liberalizing the markets,
making prices much more apparent
to both the consumers and the service providers,
to opening up what are now virtual monopolies
for health insurance companies.
And fortunately, by the way, this administration, it has
around the edges worked on all of those things.
There is also a moral argument as well,
which is that people ought to be free, man ought to be free.
And if healthcare is going to have to be rationed,
I would rather it be rationed by me and my freedom of choice
than by some bureaucratic board
somewhere in the federal government.
Forgetting all of the other problems
of socialist healthcare,
let's look at the example of little Charlie Gard
in the United Kingdom.
Student: That's anecdotal
Knowles: That anecdote has happened several times
over the last few years,
but it illustrates my point.
Student: Tens of thousands of people
die every year in the US
because they lack health insurance.
Knowles: Sure, I think many, many people around the world
have died and been waiting on lines
in socialist and communist regimes.
I don't think it's good to compare those numbers.
The point that I will make, however,
is that in countries, even mixed economies,
even countries with relatively
free socialist healthcare regimes,
the government has the final say on what you can do,
how you can treat yourself, how you can treat your children.
When the Pope, when the head of the Catholic church says,
"I will invite this baby
into my country to receive healthcare,"
and the government has the right to say,
"Absolutely not, we control your child,"
that's horrifically immoral.
We can not allow that to happen here
because, by the way, I'll also point out,
when we speak about the efficiency
of socialist healthcare regimes around the world,
all of those regimes rely
on the innovativeness of the American healthcare system,
which leads the world and always has.
It's true, you're shaking your head, but it's true.
If the United States
stops leading the way in healthcare,
you're going to see that affect global markets
and global healthcare regimes all around the world,
and it'll be a very bad thing.
That is the reason that people,
when they actually want care,
living in Cuba, living in Canada,
living in the United States,
when even their private insurance
that they're forced to buy doesn't cover it,
that's why they come to the United States
because we're leaders.
Student: We already ration care by the size of our wallets.
Knowles: We ought to ration care
by the size wallets? Student: We already ration our care
by the size of our wallets. Knowles: Of course we don't.
We have a robust social safety net.
We have Medicare and Medicaid.
We have a very generous social safety net and nobody dies.
It's one of the most absurd lies
of people pushing socialist healthcare,
that people are dying in the streets, that's absurd.
Anybody can walk into an emergency room.
Nobody is dying in the streets in the United States
and hasn't in the modern era.
Student: Tens of thousands of people are dying in the US.
Knowles: You can keep repeating your lies,
it doesn't make it true.
Show me the person who was denied
entrance to an emergency room, my friend,
show me the person, I haven't seen them.
Student: Hey, I'm for facts over feelings.
Knowles: You can repeat good slogans as well as bad slogans,
but they remain slogans nonetheless.
And I'm explaining to you
the way the healthcare regime actually works.