"Currently, the majority of Americans and practicing physicians support single-payer health care." (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Solidarity With Medical Students Who Demand Single Payer Now: An Open Letter
"Market-driven healthcare is leading Americans to early graves and medical bankruptcy."
We, the undersigned, stand together with medical students as they pressure organized medicine to support a single, comprehensive health care system for everyone in America.
At the American Medical Association's annual conference in June, medical students demanded the organization end its decades-long opposition to a single-payer national health program, a system that would be publicly financed but privately delivered and is better known as "Medicare for All." This week, members of the Student Osteopathic Medical Association will submit a resolution asking the American Osteopathic Association to support Medicare for All.
Those fortunate enough to have insurance face prohibitively expensive copays, premiums, and deductibles that limit access to care, and medical expenses remain a leading cause of bankruptcy.
Currently, the majority of Americans and practicing physicians support single-payer health care. In their resolutions, medical students from both organizations acknowledge what the rest of the country already knows: Market-driven healthcare is leading Americans to early graves and medical bankruptcy
Our health system produces some of the worst health outcomes in the industrialized world--the U.S. has the highest rate of infant mortality and the highest number of avoidable deaths--and devours an ever-increasing share of our economy with health spending accounting for a whopping 17.9 percent of the GDP. Those fortunate enough to have insurance face prohibitively expensive copays, premiums, and deductibles that limit access to care, and medical expenses remain a leading cause of bankruptcy.
Instead, Medicare for All would give health care providers more autonomy because their clinical judgement--not the financial bottom line of insurance companies--will guide patient care. Patients would have free choice of any doctor, allowing providers to compete based on quality of care. Physicians would spend less time on administrative responsibilities like paperwork and billing, and more time seeing patients, which boosts both their work satisfaction and income.
We proudly stand alongside America's future physicians in their efforts to steer the AMA and the AOA towards a universal, single-payer health system that provides quality, equitable care for all patients.
Signed,
Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP)
Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA)
Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA)
Pre-Health Dreamers
American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM)
California Health Professional Student Alliance (CaHPSA)
Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP)
California Physicians Alliance (CaPA)
White Coat Brigade
Radical Public Health
Progressive Doctors
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
Labor for Single Payer
Healthcare NOW!
Clinicians for Progressive Care
All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI)
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. The final deadline for our crucial Summer Campaign fundraising drive is just days away, and we’re falling short of our must-hit goal. 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 |
We, the undersigned, stand together with medical students as they pressure organized medicine to support a single, comprehensive health care system for everyone in America.
At the American Medical Association's annual conference in June, medical students demanded the organization end its decades-long opposition to a single-payer national health program, a system that would be publicly financed but privately delivered and is better known as "Medicare for All." This week, members of the Student Osteopathic Medical Association will submit a resolution asking the American Osteopathic Association to support Medicare for All.
Those fortunate enough to have insurance face prohibitively expensive copays, premiums, and deductibles that limit access to care, and medical expenses remain a leading cause of bankruptcy.
Currently, the majority of Americans and practicing physicians support single-payer health care. In their resolutions, medical students from both organizations acknowledge what the rest of the country already knows: Market-driven healthcare is leading Americans to early graves and medical bankruptcy
Our health system produces some of the worst health outcomes in the industrialized world--the U.S. has the highest rate of infant mortality and the highest number of avoidable deaths--and devours an ever-increasing share of our economy with health spending accounting for a whopping 17.9 percent of the GDP. Those fortunate enough to have insurance face prohibitively expensive copays, premiums, and deductibles that limit access to care, and medical expenses remain a leading cause of bankruptcy.
Instead, Medicare for All would give health care providers more autonomy because their clinical judgement--not the financial bottom line of insurance companies--will guide patient care. Patients would have free choice of any doctor, allowing providers to compete based on quality of care. Physicians would spend less time on administrative responsibilities like paperwork and billing, and more time seeing patients, which boosts both their work satisfaction and income.
We proudly stand alongside America's future physicians in their efforts to steer the AMA and the AOA towards a universal, single-payer health system that provides quality, equitable care for all patients.
Signed,
Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP)
Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA)
Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA)
Pre-Health Dreamers
American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM)
California Health Professional Student Alliance (CaHPSA)
Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP)
California Physicians Alliance (CaPA)
White Coat Brigade
Radical Public Health
Progressive Doctors
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
Labor for Single Payer
Healthcare NOW!
Clinicians for Progressive Care
All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI)
We, the undersigned, stand together with medical students as they pressure organized medicine to support a single, comprehensive health care system for everyone in America.
At the American Medical Association's annual conference in June, medical students demanded the organization end its decades-long opposition to a single-payer national health program, a system that would be publicly financed but privately delivered and is better known as "Medicare for All." This week, members of the Student Osteopathic Medical Association will submit a resolution asking the American Osteopathic Association to support Medicare for All.
Those fortunate enough to have insurance face prohibitively expensive copays, premiums, and deductibles that limit access to care, and medical expenses remain a leading cause of bankruptcy.
Currently, the majority of Americans and practicing physicians support single-payer health care. In their resolutions, medical students from both organizations acknowledge what the rest of the country already knows: Market-driven healthcare is leading Americans to early graves and medical bankruptcy
Our health system produces some of the worst health outcomes in the industrialized world--the U.S. has the highest rate of infant mortality and the highest number of avoidable deaths--and devours an ever-increasing share of our economy with health spending accounting for a whopping 17.9 percent of the GDP. Those fortunate enough to have insurance face prohibitively expensive copays, premiums, and deductibles that limit access to care, and medical expenses remain a leading cause of bankruptcy.
Instead, Medicare for All would give health care providers more autonomy because their clinical judgement--not the financial bottom line of insurance companies--will guide patient care. Patients would have free choice of any doctor, allowing providers to compete based on quality of care. Physicians would spend less time on administrative responsibilities like paperwork and billing, and more time seeing patients, which boosts both their work satisfaction and income.
We proudly stand alongside America's future physicians in their efforts to steer the AMA and the AOA towards a universal, single-payer health system that provides quality, equitable care for all patients.
Signed,
Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP)
Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA)
Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA)
Pre-Health Dreamers
American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM)
California Health Professional Student Alliance (CaHPSA)
Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP)
California Physicians Alliance (CaPA)
White Coat Brigade
Radical Public Health
Progressive Doctors
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
Labor for Single Payer
Healthcare NOW!
Clinicians for Progressive Care
All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI)