Seniors Need Medicare for All

The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, who is speaking at today's introduction of the Medicare for All Act of 2021:

"The Medicare for All Act of 2021 is a win for seniors. It covers long-term care, including home and community-based care. That means tens of millions of seniors and people with disabilities would no longer have to impoverish themselves to get the care they need.

Moreover, the Medicare for All Act adds hearing, dental and vision coverage. The inability to see and hear increases the risk of falling. Hearing loss is isolating and substantially increases depression and dementia. Untreated dental problems can lead to malnutrition and can result in heart and lung disease.

All of these crucial benefits -- vision, hearing, dental, and long-term care--are provided under the Medicare for All Act. And the legislation eliminates every penny in premiums, co-pays and deductibles. With Medicare for All, health care costs will no longer consume over 40% of the average Social Security benefit.

COVID has shined a bright spotlight on the need for Medicare for All. More than one-third of all Americans who have died of COVID were residents and staff of nursing homes, mostly for-profit facilities that prioritized profits over patients. Medicare for All would have saved many of those lives.

Medicare for All will make Medicare even more efficient, secure and reliable. Instead of the government covering only the oldest and sickest Americans, everyone will be in the same risk pool. Expanding Medicare to cover everyone will make it politically stronger, as well.

For all these reasons, Social Security Works strongly endorses the Medicare for All Act of 2021."