AP FACT CHECK: Examining claims from Biden, Sanders debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders sparred one-on-one Sunday in a Democratic debate, held without a live audience in the shadow of a growing coronavirus pandemic.

A look at how some of their claims compare with the facts:

SANDERS: Noting that the U.S. is the only major country that doesn’t guarantee health insurance, he says “we’re spending so much money, yet we are not prepared for this pandemic.”

BIDEN: “It has nothing to do with ‘Medicare for All’ — that wouldn’t solve the problem at all.”

THE FACTS: Biden has a point. The coronavirus pandemic has taken countries by surprise regardless of the type of health care system that they have. Spain has a single-payer system, known as “social security” in that country. Italy guarantees coverage for all through a regionally based system. But both countries have struggled to get control of the outbreak, and their governments have been forced to take stringent measures not yet seen in this country.