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
Community organizations, unions, and lawmakers--including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)--gather on the grounds of the Capitol in May of 2017 to voice concerns about President Donald Trump's proposed budget. (Photo: AFGE/Flickr/cc)
Medicare for All Sponsor Rep. Jayapal Challenges Biden's Comments on Labor Unions and Health Insurance
"Unions understand that when they have to bargain for healthcare, they give up money that should be used for wages."
Jul 06, 2019
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal--who favors creating a national single-payer system that ensures healthcare as a human right for all Americans--responded critically on Saturday to 2020 presidential primary front-runner Joe Biden's recent comments about labor unions and employer-based health insurance.
"This argument that 'unions broke their neck to get employer-based insurance' is an OLD argument that isn't relevant today."
--Rep. Pramila Jayapal
The congresswoman from Washington state is the lead sponsor in the U.S. House of the Medicare for All Act of 2019. Jayapal's response to the former vice president came in a series of tweets, and followed criticism of Biden from another 2020 contender--Sen Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime single-payer advocate and lead sponsor of the Senate's version of the bill.
During an interview with CNN that aired Friday, as Common Dreams reported, "Biden suggested he supports allowing Americans to buy in to Medicare instead of going all the way to Medicare for All, which he slammed as disruptive and costly despite studies showing it would save the U.S. trillions of dollars in overall healthcare spending."
"If they like their employer-based insurance, which a lot of unions broke their neck to get, a lot of people like theirs, they shouldn't have to give it up," Biden said. "If you don't go my way and you go their way you have to give up all that. What's gonna happen when you have 300 million people landing on a healthcare plan. How long is that going to take? What's it going to do?"
Sharing the relevant clip from Biden's interview, Jayapal tweeted Saturday, "This argument that 'unions broke their neck to get employer-based insurance' is an OLD argument that isn't relevant today."
The congresswoman listed some of the labor unions supporting her Medicare for All bill--including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and National Nurses United (NNU)--and argued that these organizations "understand" the benefits of transforming the country's for-profit healthcare system through proposals such as hers.
For example, Jayapal wrote, unions understand that "workers are paying more and more for their employer-insurance because for-profit insurance companies are raising premiums hugely for employer healthcare as well."
"Unions understand that when they have to bargain for healthcare, they give up money that should be used for wages," the congresswoman continued.
Labor unions also "understand solidarity and standing with [the] least amongst us," she added. "They're ready to fight for ALL OF US."
Read Jayapal's full Twitter thread:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. 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. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
bernie-sanderselection-2020healthcarehuman-rightsjoe-bidenmedicare-for-allpramila-jayapalsingle-payer
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal--who favors creating a national single-payer system that ensures healthcare as a human right for all Americans--responded critically on Saturday to 2020 presidential primary front-runner Joe Biden's recent comments about labor unions and employer-based health insurance.
"This argument that 'unions broke their neck to get employer-based insurance' is an OLD argument that isn't relevant today."
--Rep. Pramila Jayapal
The congresswoman from Washington state is the lead sponsor in the U.S. House of the Medicare for All Act of 2019. Jayapal's response to the former vice president came in a series of tweets, and followed criticism of Biden from another 2020 contender--Sen Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime single-payer advocate and lead sponsor of the Senate's version of the bill.
During an interview with CNN that aired Friday, as Common Dreams reported, "Biden suggested he supports allowing Americans to buy in to Medicare instead of going all the way to Medicare for All, which he slammed as disruptive and costly despite studies showing it would save the U.S. trillions of dollars in overall healthcare spending."
"If they like their employer-based insurance, which a lot of unions broke their neck to get, a lot of people like theirs, they shouldn't have to give it up," Biden said. "If you don't go my way and you go their way you have to give up all that. What's gonna happen when you have 300 million people landing on a healthcare plan. How long is that going to take? What's it going to do?"
Sharing the relevant clip from Biden's interview, Jayapal tweeted Saturday, "This argument that 'unions broke their neck to get employer-based insurance' is an OLD argument that isn't relevant today."
The congresswoman listed some of the labor unions supporting her Medicare for All bill--including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and National Nurses United (NNU)--and argued that these organizations "understand" the benefits of transforming the country's for-profit healthcare system through proposals such as hers.
For example, Jayapal wrote, unions understand that "workers are paying more and more for their employer-insurance because for-profit insurance companies are raising premiums hugely for employer healthcare as well."
"Unions understand that when they have to bargain for healthcare, they give up money that should be used for wages," the congresswoman continued.
Labor unions also "understand solidarity and standing with [the] least amongst us," she added. "They're ready to fight for ALL OF US."
Read Jayapal's full Twitter thread:
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal--who favors creating a national single-payer system that ensures healthcare as a human right for all Americans--responded critically on Saturday to 2020 presidential primary front-runner Joe Biden's recent comments about labor unions and employer-based health insurance.
"This argument that 'unions broke their neck to get employer-based insurance' is an OLD argument that isn't relevant today."
--Rep. Pramila Jayapal
The congresswoman from Washington state is the lead sponsor in the U.S. House of the Medicare for All Act of 2019. Jayapal's response to the former vice president came in a series of tweets, and followed criticism of Biden from another 2020 contender--Sen Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime single-payer advocate and lead sponsor of the Senate's version of the bill.
During an interview with CNN that aired Friday, as Common Dreams reported, "Biden suggested he supports allowing Americans to buy in to Medicare instead of going all the way to Medicare for All, which he slammed as disruptive and costly despite studies showing it would save the U.S. trillions of dollars in overall healthcare spending."
"If they like their employer-based insurance, which a lot of unions broke their neck to get, a lot of people like theirs, they shouldn't have to give it up," Biden said. "If you don't go my way and you go their way you have to give up all that. What's gonna happen when you have 300 million people landing on a healthcare plan. How long is that going to take? What's it going to do?"
Sharing the relevant clip from Biden's interview, Jayapal tweeted Saturday, "This argument that 'unions broke their neck to get employer-based insurance' is an OLD argument that isn't relevant today."
The congresswoman listed some of the labor unions supporting her Medicare for All bill--including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and National Nurses United (NNU)--and argued that these organizations "understand" the benefits of transforming the country's for-profit healthcare system through proposals such as hers.
For example, Jayapal wrote, unions understand that "workers are paying more and more for their employer-insurance because for-profit insurance companies are raising premiums hugely for employer healthcare as well."
"Unions understand that when they have to bargain for healthcare, they give up money that should be used for wages," the congresswoman continued.
Labor unions also "understand solidarity and standing with [the] least amongst us," she added. "They're ready to fight for ALL OF US."
Read Jayapal's full Twitter thread:
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.