SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks at a rally to oppose the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and its replacement on Capitol Hill on June 21, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Astrid Riecken/Getty Images)
Warren Officially Joins Sanders on Single Payer: 'It's Time to Fight for Medicare for All'
"The American people have made it clear that they believe healthcare is a basic human right."
Sep 07, 2017
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced Thursday that she will co-sponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) Medicare for All legislation, calling it "the best way to deliver high quality, low cost healthcare to all Americans."
"There is something fundamentally wrong when one of the richest and most powerful countries on the planet can't make sure that a person can afford to see a doctor when they're sick," Warren wrote in a blog post on her website. "Healthcare is a basic human right--and it's time to fight for it."
"There is something fundamentally wrong when one of the richest and most powerful countries on the planet can't make sure that a person can afford to see a doctor when they're sick."
--Sen. Elizabeth WarrenWith her announcement, Warren becomes the second Democratic senator to officially endorse Sanders' legislation, which is reportedly set to be introduced next week. As Common Dreams reported, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) announced at a town hall last week that she plans to co-sponsor Sanders' bill, saying "it's the right thing to do."
Warren had previously expressed support for moving toward a single-payer system. In a June interview with the Wall Street Journal, Warren called Medicare for All the obvious "next step," given the flaws of the current for-profit system.
In her blog post on Thursday, Warren acknowledges Obamacare's achievements, from covering millions of Americans to barring insurance companies from "denying people with preexisting conditions." But around 28 million people in the U.S. remain uninsured, and Warren writes that there is much progress to be made, from "ending health insurance company price gouging" to "cut[ting] the cost of prescription drugs by importing drugs from Canada, where the same prescription can sometimes cost far less than in the U.S."
Warren argued single payer is the "one way" to achieve these objectives, and to ensure that all Americans are guaranteed healthcare as a right.
The fight for Medicare for All will be "tough," Warren notes, as "giant insurance and drug companies will send out their army of lobbyists to fight...every step of the way."
But popular support, Warren concludes, is on the side of single payer.
"The American people have made it clear that they believe healthcare is a basic human right," Warren writes.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced Thursday that she will co-sponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) Medicare for All legislation, calling it "the best way to deliver high quality, low cost healthcare to all Americans."
"There is something fundamentally wrong when one of the richest and most powerful countries on the planet can't make sure that a person can afford to see a doctor when they're sick," Warren wrote in a blog post on her website. "Healthcare is a basic human right--and it's time to fight for it."
"There is something fundamentally wrong when one of the richest and most powerful countries on the planet can't make sure that a person can afford to see a doctor when they're sick."
--Sen. Elizabeth WarrenWith her announcement, Warren becomes the second Democratic senator to officially endorse Sanders' legislation, which is reportedly set to be introduced next week. As Common Dreams reported, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) announced at a town hall last week that she plans to co-sponsor Sanders' bill, saying "it's the right thing to do."
Warren had previously expressed support for moving toward a single-payer system. In a June interview with the Wall Street Journal, Warren called Medicare for All the obvious "next step," given the flaws of the current for-profit system.
In her blog post on Thursday, Warren acknowledges Obamacare's achievements, from covering millions of Americans to barring insurance companies from "denying people with preexisting conditions." But around 28 million people in the U.S. remain uninsured, and Warren writes that there is much progress to be made, from "ending health insurance company price gouging" to "cut[ting] the cost of prescription drugs by importing drugs from Canada, where the same prescription can sometimes cost far less than in the U.S."
Warren argued single payer is the "one way" to achieve these objectives, and to ensure that all Americans are guaranteed healthcare as a right.
The fight for Medicare for All will be "tough," Warren notes, as "giant insurance and drug companies will send out their army of lobbyists to fight...every step of the way."
But popular support, Warren concludes, is on the side of single payer.
"The American people have made it clear that they believe healthcare is a basic human right," Warren writes.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced Thursday that she will co-sponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) Medicare for All legislation, calling it "the best way to deliver high quality, low cost healthcare to all Americans."
"There is something fundamentally wrong when one of the richest and most powerful countries on the planet can't make sure that a person can afford to see a doctor when they're sick," Warren wrote in a blog post on her website. "Healthcare is a basic human right--and it's time to fight for it."
"There is something fundamentally wrong when one of the richest and most powerful countries on the planet can't make sure that a person can afford to see a doctor when they're sick."
--Sen. Elizabeth WarrenWith her announcement, Warren becomes the second Democratic senator to officially endorse Sanders' legislation, which is reportedly set to be introduced next week. As Common Dreams reported, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) announced at a town hall last week that she plans to co-sponsor Sanders' bill, saying "it's the right thing to do."
Warren had previously expressed support for moving toward a single-payer system. In a June interview with the Wall Street Journal, Warren called Medicare for All the obvious "next step," given the flaws of the current for-profit system.
In her blog post on Thursday, Warren acknowledges Obamacare's achievements, from covering millions of Americans to barring insurance companies from "denying people with preexisting conditions." But around 28 million people in the U.S. remain uninsured, and Warren writes that there is much progress to be made, from "ending health insurance company price gouging" to "cut[ting] the cost of prescription drugs by importing drugs from Canada, where the same prescription can sometimes cost far less than in the U.S."
Warren argued single payer is the "one way" to achieve these objectives, and to ensure that all Americans are guaranteed healthcare as a right.
The fight for Medicare for All will be "tough," Warren notes, as "giant insurance and drug companies will send out their army of lobbyists to fight...every step of the way."
But popular support, Warren concludes, is on the side of single payer.
"The American people have made it clear that they believe healthcare is a basic human right," Warren writes.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.