Protesters supporting "Medicare for All" hold a rally outside PhRMA headquarters April 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. The rally was held by the group Progressive Democrats of America. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Medicare for All Can Fix the Unaffordable Healthcare Crisis
Tens of millions of people continue to have no form of health insurance while the most expensive health care system in the world continues to get even more unaffordable.
We've heard this line before--our medical system, as it currently stands, is very unreliable and expensive for the average person. You pay thousands to for-profit insurance companies, and you still have to pay hundreds out-of-pocket for medications and services not covered by our plans.
The ACA was never meant to be the end; it was meant to be a step forward to improve our system.
With so much money coming out of our pockets and so many gaps in our plans, one starts to wonder why we're charged so much for insurance.
But what can we do about this? We do have the Affordable Care Act (ACA,) which helps connect residents to health insurers to get them the best, money-safe options. It has helped countless people get coverage that they otherwise wouldn't have gotten. But is this really still enough? Tens of millions of people continue to have no form of health insurance while the most expensive health care system in the world continues to get even more unaffordable.
Mercer County has significant Hispanic (18.5% or 71,658 people) and Black (21.5% or 83,278 people) communities. As a public health worker in Mercer, I see how our current healthcare system somewhat helps our community, but still leaves many more of us behind, especially people of color.
Being on the front lines of both healthcare and the COVID-19 pandemic, and coming from the Trenton-Hamilton area where there is one of the largest concentrations of Black and Hispanic people, too many of us suffer from being uninsured.
In both communities, more than 1 in 5 of us are uninsured. This is an absurd statistic that really shows us how, despite living in the wealthiest country in the world and spending the most on health care, we are failing communities of color and aren't doing enough to address this neglect.
This doesn't even mention the poverty ceiling created by the eligibility requirements under the ACA subsidy program. If these individuals or families earn more money, they risk exceeding the income thresholds of these programs and losing their health coverage.
This creates an incentive to stay below a certain income level, disincentivizing upward class mobility and maintaining wealth stagnation--all to be able to keep the healthcare coverage that's barely affordable. An income-based program risks leaving behind thousands of people. This becomes a racial issue as much as it is a public health issue.
Many here in our very own Mercer County already understand this, including many of our legislators. Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman is a co-sponsor of the Medicare For All House bill and the board of county commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to call on Congress to pass it. The Princeton and Trenton municipal councils have passed local resolutions calling for the bill to pass.
We cannot wait any longer. There is a growing movement for a solution on the scale of the crisis in our health care system. Several residents of the state's 3rd Congressional District have attended town halls and have urged our delegation to support Medicare For All, and continue to do s
Rep. Andy Kim, this is an urgent call to you to support Medicare for All.
The ACA was never meant to be the end; it was meant to be a step forward to improve our system. If we are to be the wealthiest and most innovative nation on Earth, we must care for the people who actually do the work to make us just that.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
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 from the outset was 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 and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
We've heard this line before--our medical system, as it currently stands, is very unreliable and expensive for the average person. You pay thousands to for-profit insurance companies, and you still have to pay hundreds out-of-pocket for medications and services not covered by our plans.
The ACA was never meant to be the end; it was meant to be a step forward to improve our system.
With so much money coming out of our pockets and so many gaps in our plans, one starts to wonder why we're charged so much for insurance.
But what can we do about this? We do have the Affordable Care Act (ACA,) which helps connect residents to health insurers to get them the best, money-safe options. It has helped countless people get coverage that they otherwise wouldn't have gotten. But is this really still enough? Tens of millions of people continue to have no form of health insurance while the most expensive health care system in the world continues to get even more unaffordable.
Mercer County has significant Hispanic (18.5% or 71,658 people) and Black (21.5% or 83,278 people) communities. As a public health worker in Mercer, I see how our current healthcare system somewhat helps our community, but still leaves many more of us behind, especially people of color.
Being on the front lines of both healthcare and the COVID-19 pandemic, and coming from the Trenton-Hamilton area where there is one of the largest concentrations of Black and Hispanic people, too many of us suffer from being uninsured.
In both communities, more than 1 in 5 of us are uninsured. This is an absurd statistic that really shows us how, despite living in the wealthiest country in the world and spending the most on health care, we are failing communities of color and aren't doing enough to address this neglect.
This doesn't even mention the poverty ceiling created by the eligibility requirements under the ACA subsidy program. If these individuals or families earn more money, they risk exceeding the income thresholds of these programs and losing their health coverage.
This creates an incentive to stay below a certain income level, disincentivizing upward class mobility and maintaining wealth stagnation--all to be able to keep the healthcare coverage that's barely affordable. An income-based program risks leaving behind thousands of people. This becomes a racial issue as much as it is a public health issue.
Many here in our very own Mercer County already understand this, including many of our legislators. Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman is a co-sponsor of the Medicare For All House bill and the board of county commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to call on Congress to pass it. The Princeton and Trenton municipal councils have passed local resolutions calling for the bill to pass.
We cannot wait any longer. There is a growing movement for a solution on the scale of the crisis in our health care system. Several residents of the state's 3rd Congressional District have attended town halls and have urged our delegation to support Medicare For All, and continue to do s
Rep. Andy Kim, this is an urgent call to you to support Medicare for All.
The ACA was never meant to be the end; it was meant to be a step forward to improve our system. If we are to be the wealthiest and most innovative nation on Earth, we must care for the people who actually do the work to make us just that.
We've heard this line before--our medical system, as it currently stands, is very unreliable and expensive for the average person. You pay thousands to for-profit insurance companies, and you still have to pay hundreds out-of-pocket for medications and services not covered by our plans.
The ACA was never meant to be the end; it was meant to be a step forward to improve our system.
With so much money coming out of our pockets and so many gaps in our plans, one starts to wonder why we're charged so much for insurance.
But what can we do about this? We do have the Affordable Care Act (ACA,) which helps connect residents to health insurers to get them the best, money-safe options. It has helped countless people get coverage that they otherwise wouldn't have gotten. But is this really still enough? Tens of millions of people continue to have no form of health insurance while the most expensive health care system in the world continues to get even more unaffordable.
Mercer County has significant Hispanic (18.5% or 71,658 people) and Black (21.5% or 83,278 people) communities. As a public health worker in Mercer, I see how our current healthcare system somewhat helps our community, but still leaves many more of us behind, especially people of color.
Being on the front lines of both healthcare and the COVID-19 pandemic, and coming from the Trenton-Hamilton area where there is one of the largest concentrations of Black and Hispanic people, too many of us suffer from being uninsured.
In both communities, more than 1 in 5 of us are uninsured. This is an absurd statistic that really shows us how, despite living in the wealthiest country in the world and spending the most on health care, we are failing communities of color and aren't doing enough to address this neglect.
This doesn't even mention the poverty ceiling created by the eligibility requirements under the ACA subsidy program. If these individuals or families earn more money, they risk exceeding the income thresholds of these programs and losing their health coverage.
This creates an incentive to stay below a certain income level, disincentivizing upward class mobility and maintaining wealth stagnation--all to be able to keep the healthcare coverage that's barely affordable. An income-based program risks leaving behind thousands of people. This becomes a racial issue as much as it is a public health issue.
Many here in our very own Mercer County already understand this, including many of our legislators. Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman is a co-sponsor of the Medicare For All House bill and the board of county commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to call on Congress to pass it. The Princeton and Trenton municipal councils have passed local resolutions calling for the bill to pass.
We cannot wait any longer. There is a growing movement for a solution on the scale of the crisis in our health care system. Several residents of the state's 3rd Congressional District have attended town halls and have urged our delegation to support Medicare For All, and continue to do s
Rep. Andy Kim, this is an urgent call to you to support Medicare for All.
The ACA was never meant to be the end; it was meant to be a step forward to improve our system. If we are to be the wealthiest and most innovative nation on Earth, we must care for the people who actually do the work to make us just that.