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. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Bucking For-Profit System, Sanders Aims to 'Revolutionize' US Healthcare With Medicare for All
"Now is the time for Congress to stand with the American people and take on the special interests that dominate healthcare in the United States."
Sep 13, 2017
In a bid to "revolutionize" American healthcare by transitioning away from the for-profit status quo to a Medicare for All system that guarantees insurance to every American as a right, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday will introduce his long-awaited single-payer bill that is now backed by 15 Democratic senators and a wave of grassroots enthusiasm.
"Today's bill introduction is the crest of a wave, but it's also a new beginning"
-- RoseAnn DeMoro, National Nurses United
"This is where the country has got to go," Sanders told the Washington Post on Tuesday. "Right now, if we want to move away from a dysfunctional, wasteful, bureaucratic system into a rational healthcare system that guarantees coverage to everyone in a cost-effective way, the only way to do it is Medicare for All."
Post reporter Dave Weigel got an early look at the legislation--which will be introduced at 2pm at an event in Washington--and summarized it as a total replacement of the current healthcare system with "a public system that would be paid for by higher taxes."
Weigel continued:
Everything from emergency surgery to prescription drugs, from mental health to eye care, would be covered, with no co-payments. Americans under 18 would immediately obtain "universal Medicare cards," while Americans not currently eligible for Medicare would be phased into the program over four years. Employer-provided health care would be replaced, with the employers paying higher taxes but no longer on the hook for insurance.
In a video on Wednesday, Sanders contrasted his legislation with the Republicans' failed plan, which could have stripped health insurance from more than 30 million Americans.
As Common Dreams reported on Monday, Sanders and his allies have emphasized that introduction of the Medicare for All Act of 2017 is only the beginning of a long struggle against "the insurance companies, the drug companies, Wall Street, and all those who make billions in profit" from the current system.
But opponents of Medicare for All "are on the wrong side of history," Sanders wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times on Wednesday.
"We need to destroy once and for all the utterly preposterous myth that the so-called 'free market' will ever be capable of delivering the health system we need."
--Richard Master, Business Initiative for Health Policy
"Now is the time for Congress to stand with the American people and take on the special interests that dominate healthcare in the United States," Sanders concluded. "Now is the time to extend Medicare to everyone."
Many in the business community agree.
In a statement ahead of Sanders' announcement on Wednesday, David Levine, CEO and co-founder of the American Sustainable Business Council, said a single-payer system would "be better for our economy overall."
Business Initiative for Health Policy founder Richard Master, who will speak at the event introducing the Medicare for All Act of 2017, echoed Levine, arguing: "We need to destroy once and for all the utterly preposterous myth that the so-called 'free market' will ever be capable of delivering the health system we need."
Commentators in recent days have expressed astonishment at the speed with which public and Democratic Party opinion has shifted on single payer. Vox's Dylan Matthews called Democrats' growing support for Medicare for All "stunning," and the Washington Post's Aaron Blake likened single payer's rapid surge in popularity to a dam finally breaking.
Writing for Common Dreams on Wednesday, RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United (NNU), argued that this "seismic shift" in opinion is a "direct product of how Sanders made Medicare for All, and healthcare as a human right, such a signature issue of his [2016 presidential] campaign."
It is also a result of "the enduring work of nurses and other healthcare activists over many years," which has "laid the seeds for this day," DeMoro wrote.
NNU has, along with many other progressive organizations, joined a massive grassroots campaign to build on popular support for Medicare for All that will continue--and intensify--in the months ahead.
"Today's bill introduction is the crest of a wave, but it's also a new beginning," DeMoro concluded. "Nurses will continue to press this issue, calling on all senators to sign on, and to challenge those who will stand in the way of enacting the healthcare system we need."
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.
In a bid to "revolutionize" American healthcare by transitioning away from the for-profit status quo to a Medicare for All system that guarantees insurance to every American as a right, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday will introduce his long-awaited single-payer bill that is now backed by 15 Democratic senators and a wave of grassroots enthusiasm.
"Today's bill introduction is the crest of a wave, but it's also a new beginning"
-- RoseAnn DeMoro, National Nurses United
"This is where the country has got to go," Sanders told the Washington Post on Tuesday. "Right now, if we want to move away from a dysfunctional, wasteful, bureaucratic system into a rational healthcare system that guarantees coverage to everyone in a cost-effective way, the only way to do it is Medicare for All."
Post reporter Dave Weigel got an early look at the legislation--which will be introduced at 2pm at an event in Washington--and summarized it as a total replacement of the current healthcare system with "a public system that would be paid for by higher taxes."
Weigel continued:
Everything from emergency surgery to prescription drugs, from mental health to eye care, would be covered, with no co-payments. Americans under 18 would immediately obtain "universal Medicare cards," while Americans not currently eligible for Medicare would be phased into the program over four years. Employer-provided health care would be replaced, with the employers paying higher taxes but no longer on the hook for insurance.
In a video on Wednesday, Sanders contrasted his legislation with the Republicans' failed plan, which could have stripped health insurance from more than 30 million Americans.
As Common Dreams reported on Monday, Sanders and his allies have emphasized that introduction of the Medicare for All Act of 2017 is only the beginning of a long struggle against "the insurance companies, the drug companies, Wall Street, and all those who make billions in profit" from the current system.
But opponents of Medicare for All "are on the wrong side of history," Sanders wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times on Wednesday.
"We need to destroy once and for all the utterly preposterous myth that the so-called 'free market' will ever be capable of delivering the health system we need."
--Richard Master, Business Initiative for Health Policy
"Now is the time for Congress to stand with the American people and take on the special interests that dominate healthcare in the United States," Sanders concluded. "Now is the time to extend Medicare to everyone."
Many in the business community agree.
In a statement ahead of Sanders' announcement on Wednesday, David Levine, CEO and co-founder of the American Sustainable Business Council, said a single-payer system would "be better for our economy overall."
Business Initiative for Health Policy founder Richard Master, who will speak at the event introducing the Medicare for All Act of 2017, echoed Levine, arguing: "We need to destroy once and for all the utterly preposterous myth that the so-called 'free market' will ever be capable of delivering the health system we need."
Commentators in recent days have expressed astonishment at the speed with which public and Democratic Party opinion has shifted on single payer. Vox's Dylan Matthews called Democrats' growing support for Medicare for All "stunning," and the Washington Post's Aaron Blake likened single payer's rapid surge in popularity to a dam finally breaking.
Writing for Common Dreams on Wednesday, RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United (NNU), argued that this "seismic shift" in opinion is a "direct product of how Sanders made Medicare for All, and healthcare as a human right, such a signature issue of his [2016 presidential] campaign."
It is also a result of "the enduring work of nurses and other healthcare activists over many years," which has "laid the seeds for this day," DeMoro wrote.
NNU has, along with many other progressive organizations, joined a massive grassroots campaign to build on popular support for Medicare for All that will continue--and intensify--in the months ahead.
"Today's bill introduction is the crest of a wave, but it's also a new beginning," DeMoro concluded. "Nurses will continue to press this issue, calling on all senators to sign on, and to challenge those who will stand in the way of enacting the healthcare system we need."
In a bid to "revolutionize" American healthcare by transitioning away from the for-profit status quo to a Medicare for All system that guarantees insurance to every American as a right, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday will introduce his long-awaited single-payer bill that is now backed by 15 Democratic senators and a wave of grassroots enthusiasm.
"Today's bill introduction is the crest of a wave, but it's also a new beginning"
-- RoseAnn DeMoro, National Nurses United
"This is where the country has got to go," Sanders told the Washington Post on Tuesday. "Right now, if we want to move away from a dysfunctional, wasteful, bureaucratic system into a rational healthcare system that guarantees coverage to everyone in a cost-effective way, the only way to do it is Medicare for All."
Post reporter Dave Weigel got an early look at the legislation--which will be introduced at 2pm at an event in Washington--and summarized it as a total replacement of the current healthcare system with "a public system that would be paid for by higher taxes."
Weigel continued:
Everything from emergency surgery to prescription drugs, from mental health to eye care, would be covered, with no co-payments. Americans under 18 would immediately obtain "universal Medicare cards," while Americans not currently eligible for Medicare would be phased into the program over four years. Employer-provided health care would be replaced, with the employers paying higher taxes but no longer on the hook for insurance.
In a video on Wednesday, Sanders contrasted his legislation with the Republicans' failed plan, which could have stripped health insurance from more than 30 million Americans.
As Common Dreams reported on Monday, Sanders and his allies have emphasized that introduction of the Medicare for All Act of 2017 is only the beginning of a long struggle against "the insurance companies, the drug companies, Wall Street, and all those who make billions in profit" from the current system.
But opponents of Medicare for All "are on the wrong side of history," Sanders wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times on Wednesday.
"We need to destroy once and for all the utterly preposterous myth that the so-called 'free market' will ever be capable of delivering the health system we need."
--Richard Master, Business Initiative for Health Policy
"Now is the time for Congress to stand with the American people and take on the special interests that dominate healthcare in the United States," Sanders concluded. "Now is the time to extend Medicare to everyone."
Many in the business community agree.
In a statement ahead of Sanders' announcement on Wednesday, David Levine, CEO and co-founder of the American Sustainable Business Council, said a single-payer system would "be better for our economy overall."
Business Initiative for Health Policy founder Richard Master, who will speak at the event introducing the Medicare for All Act of 2017, echoed Levine, arguing: "We need to destroy once and for all the utterly preposterous myth that the so-called 'free market' will ever be capable of delivering the health system we need."
Commentators in recent days have expressed astonishment at the speed with which public and Democratic Party opinion has shifted on single payer. Vox's Dylan Matthews called Democrats' growing support for Medicare for All "stunning," and the Washington Post's Aaron Blake likened single payer's rapid surge in popularity to a dam finally breaking.
Writing for Common Dreams on Wednesday, RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United (NNU), argued that this "seismic shift" in opinion is a "direct product of how Sanders made Medicare for All, and healthcare as a human right, such a signature issue of his [2016 presidential] campaign."
It is also a result of "the enduring work of nurses and other healthcare activists over many years," which has "laid the seeds for this day," DeMoro wrote.
NNU has, along with many other progressive organizations, joined a massive grassroots campaign to build on popular support for Medicare for All that will continue--and intensify--in the months ahead.
"Today's bill introduction is the crest of a wave, but it's also a new beginning," DeMoro concluded. "Nurses will continue to press this issue, calling on all senators to sign on, and to challenge those who will stand in the way of enacting the healthcare system we need."
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.