Rejecting "loose talk" from corporate Democrats, the media, and insurance industry that a single-payer system would be unaffordable, twenty leading U.S. economists on Tuesday released an open letter endorsing Medicare for All as the best way to reduce soaring national healthcare costs, significantly cut expenses for most U.S. households, and save countless lives.

"We believe the available research supports the conclusion that a program of Medicare for All (M4A) could be considerably less expensive than the current system, reducing waste and profiteering inherent in the current system, and could be financed in a way to ensure significant financial savings for the vast majority of American households," reads the letter, whose signatories include Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and University of Massachusetts at Amherst professor Robert Pollin.

"Most important, Medicare for All will reduce morbidity and save tens of thousands of lives each year."

—Open letter

"Most important," the economists write, "Medicare for All will reduce morbidity and save tens of thousands of lives each year."

The letter was provided to Business Insider by Business for Medicare for All, an advocacy group led by former insurance executive Wendell Potter, who is now a vocal supporter of single-payer healthcare.

"By eliminating insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, and lowering overall healthcare costs, Medicare for All will result in enormous savings for almost all households, all except the richest households who will pay more in taxes," the letter states.

Dr. Gerald Friedman, economics professor at the University of Massachussetts at Amherst and one of the letter's signatories, told Business Insider that "what's really unaffordable" is not Medicare for All, but the current for-profit system in which price-gouging is rampant and the costs of private insurance plans are skyrocketing.

"We spend about twice the average for affluent countries in the OECD on healthcare," Friedman said.

Read the open letter in full below: