The fragmentation within much of our country was on full display during the recent national conventions and their aftermath. The gatherings in Philadelphia and Cleveland presented two very disparate views of America, along with enough sound bites to keep the Twitterverse buzzing indefinitely. Every election cycle comes with its fair share of hyperbole, but this year seems to be moving into fairly unprecedented territory.

But while Americans wait for the latest on Hillary's emails or Trump's most recent jaw-dropper, Bernie continues to have a major impact on the country (and I'm not referring to the booing Bernie Bros).

A large part of Sanders' platform was built on the foundation of universal health care. He believes “health care is a human right and should be guaranteed to all Americans regardless of wealth or income.”

The national conversation continues to revolve around the ACA's future, but a growing number of Americans are feeling the Bern when it comes to health care.

Americans remain evenly split on keeping the ACA in its current form, but 58 percent would prefer replacing it with a federally-funded system that provides care for all Americans, according to a recent Gallup poll. When asked how to deal with the ACA, solutions mostly fell along party lines; but when asked about replacing the ACA with a federally-funded system, 41 percent of Republicans were in favor.

Meanwhile, California voters will consider Proposition 61 this fall, which, with some exceptions, would bar drug companies from charging state programs more than the discounted price paid by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. I've already written about Colorado's Amendment 69, which would create a public health system paid with tax increases and funding currently allotted for programs like Medicaid.

As a recent AP article put it, “With the presidential campaign consumed by questions about the candidates' character and temperament, the traditional debate over issues has been downplayed. Donald Trump has pledged to repeal Obama's health care law, while Hillary Clinton would build on it. The California and Colorado initiatives steer the conversation away from the highly scripted back-and-forth on 'Obamacare.'”

Opponents of the Colorado measure, including Anthem, have raised nearly $4 million—more than five times the amount raised by supporters. Meanwhile, opponents of the initiative in California have raised nearly $70 million. Clearly, some people can tear themselves away from the constant noise of the presidential race long enough to take notice of issues that could have a far greater impact on the health care industry. How about you?

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