Bernie Sanders at DNC: 'This election is about universal healthcare and a public option'

Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said his campaign and Hillary Clinton had a significant coming together to create the Democratic Party’s platform, which includes a number of healthcare tenets. Source: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Bernie Sanders said Monday night that the Democratic party's platform -- and this election -- is about universal healthcare and giving the citizenry a public option.

Other Democrats including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and First Lady Michelle Obama also touted the importance of healthcare in the election.

"I am happy to tell you that at the Democratic Platform Committee there was a significant coming together between the two campaigns and we produced, by far, the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party," Sanders said.

Sanders rattled off a list of reforms that the new platform includes, notably breaking up Wall Street banks and creating a Glass-Steagall Act for the 21st  Century and opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other free trade agreement that Democrats consider to be job killers.

[Also: Donald Trump's plan to replace Affordable Care Act results in 18 million fewer insured, study says]

Having campaigned on the promise of universal healthcare or Medicare for all, Sanders also said that will be a critical component of the Democratic party platform as well. 

"This campaign is about moving the United States toward universal healthcare and reducing the number of people who are uninsured or under-insured. Hillary Clinton wants to see that all Americans have the right to choose a public option in their healthcare exchange," said Sanders, a Vermont Senator  and former presidential candidate. "She believes that anyone 55 years or older should be able to opt in to Medicare and she wants to see millions more Americans gain access to primary care, dental care, mental health counseling and low-cost prescription drugs through a major expansion of community health centers."

Not only keeping the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, in place but also expanding the safety net was among the night's themes. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren also touched on similar themes. 

"We believe that after a lifetime of hard work, seniors should be able to retire with dignity," Warren said. "Hillary will fight to expand Social Security, strengthen Medicare, and protect retirement accounts."

Both Warren and Michelle Obama pointed to Hillary Clinton's  past work in healthcare as well.

[Also: Donald Trump says 'government can lead' in healthcare]

"Hillary has spent decades doing the relentless thankless work to make a difference in their lives, fighting for children's healthcare as First Lady and quality healthcare in the Senate," the First Lady said.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand echoed that sentiment and added that Hillary also chose to work in support of the Children's Defense Fund early in her career.

"As America's First Lady she helped create a health insurance program for children so 8 million kids could get the care they need," Gillibrand said.

Many of the speakers struck a more optimistic tone than Republicans presented last week during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Obama said that delegates should "never let anyone tell this country isn't great," while Warren added that America is not going broke and that, instead, Democrats have instituted better consumer protections and more access to health insurance via laws she said Republicans are still trying to kill.

"Where was Donald Trump?" Warren asked. "In all these fights, not once did he lift a finger to help working people. Why would he? His whole life has been about taking advantage of that rigged system. Time after time he preyed on working people, people in debt, people who had fallen on hard times. He's conned them, he's defrauded them, and he's ripped them off."

Sanders, who closed the night with the final speech, aimed to rally his supporters around Clinton and keep the political revolution moving forward.

"Our job now is to see the platform implemented by a Democratic Senate, a Democratic House and a Hillary Clinton presidency," Sanders said. "And I am going to do everything I can to make that happen."

Twitter: @SullyHIT