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Rep. Jayapal Thinks Cuba's Healthcare System Is 'Remarkable'

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  April 22, 2026 7:30 AM

Democrats have made no secret that they want single-payer healthcare here in America. What they don't care about, of course, is how disastrous single-payer systems are in other nations with a fraction of our population. In Canada, there are roughly 42 million people; in the U.K., about 70 million; and in Cuba, about 11 million. In the U.S., we have more than 340 million people. All those aforementioned nations have socialized medicine. In the U.K. and Canada, they are plagued by wait times, staffing shortages, and other problems. It takes weeks to see a doctor for a routine appointment and months or years for a test like an MRI or surgical procedure. In Canada, when you get sick, they offer you assisted suicide instead of treatment.

But in Cuba, the public healthcare system is in a shambles. It's rife with dirty, ill-equipped facilities where patients languish without food, care, or symptom management. But because it's single-payer, Democrats still love it.

Like Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who called Cuba's system "remarkable."

"I worked on global health for ten years before coming to Congress," Jayapal said. "So it's an area that I'm very interested in. Cuba has a remarkable public health system. Lowest infant mortality, maternal mortality. Sort of the opposite of the United States."

Of course, that's communist propaganda. Cuba hides infant mortality by classifying early neonatal deaths as late fetal deaths (i.e. miscarriages), deflating the infant mortality rate. The average infant mortality rate is somewhere between 1.04 and 3.03. Cuba's actual rate is 6. According to a study in Health Policy and Planning, "Although Cuban health statistics appear strong, they overstate the achievements because of data manipulation. Moreover, their strength is not derived from the successful delivery of health care but rather from the particular repressive nature of the regime which comes at the expense of other populations."

Why would they leave such a remarkable country?

Cuban officials and gullible Western visitors get to see the "good" part of Cuba's healthcare system. It's all a facade, of course.

She can't square that circle.

And many of them vote Republican, so Democrats despise them.

Everyone is equally broke and abused by the government, which Democrats are okay with.

Yes, there is more than one meaning to the word remarkable, and Cuba's health care system is remarkable. Just not in the way Jayapal thinks.