Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, relentlessly scoffs at the idea that Wall Street is Too Big To Fail. But it is his proposal to provide Medicare For All that exposes the real industry that is, in many people’s mind, Too Big To Fail—health care. A recent Washington Post article all but admits this and the Post is not alone in its thinking.

Throughout this very long campaign cycle countless politicians, policy wonks, economists, writers and everyday people have characterized Medicare For All as unrealistic or in Hillary Clinton’s recent words, “…too good to be true...” Seriously, how many euphemisms can opponents use to say what they’re really thinking—the health care industry is such a big part of our economy that we can’t change it. They are, however, right about health care being a large part of the U.S. economy in terms of money and jobs.

• Health care expenditures make up 17.5% of the nations gross domestic product (GDP). That means it is basically about 20% of the entire U.S. economy
• We spent a little over $3 trillion for health care in 2014
• The health care industry employs over 13 million workers and is the largest private sector business sector

Tags: health care , price transparency, Drug price controls