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Watch: Cuomo Challenger Cynthia Nixon Demands Medicare for All in New York

Cynthia Nixon, a progressive candidate running for governor of New York, speaks at an event in New York City. (Photo: Cynthia Nixon/Facebook)

Watch: Cuomo Challenger Cynthia Nixon Demands Medicare for All in New York

"Healthcare should be a human right, not a privilege for those who can afford it."

New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon--a progressive facing off against incumbent Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo--released a new video on Tuesday calling for a statewide single-payer healthcare system.

"Healthcare should be a human right, not a privilege for those who can afford it," Nixon declares. "When I'm governor, we'll pass the New York Health Act and create a single-payer, Medicare for All system that covers every New Yorker. It'll dramatically lower the cost of healthcare by taking on the greed of Big Pharma and insurance companies who make billions off of human suffering."

The New York native recalls her mother discovering signs of breast cancer, but putting off a trip to the doctor because she lacked health insurance. Noting that the state Assembly has passed the bill several times, Nixon concludes, "Every single New Yorker can have good healthcare with no co-pays and no deductibles, but first we have to start sending Democrats to Albany who stand with people not corporations."

Watch:

Nixon has garnered national attention for campaigning on a slate of progressive policies, which include getting corporate money out of politics, transitioning from fossil fuels to 100 percent renewable energy, improving the state's public education system, and pressuring the Trump administration to end its cruel immigration policies and abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

Her call for implementing a single-payer healthcare system across her state comes as the model is increasingly gaining national support among constituents and political candidates alike. A "groundbreaking" number of Democrats signed on as co-sponsors when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime advocate of guaranteeing healthcare for all Americans, introduced a Medicare for All bill in the Senate in September.

Nixon's video provoked both messages of support for her demand and critiques of the state's legislative operations under Cuomo:

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