“Senator Bernie Sanders & Representative Pramila Jayapal re-introduced their Medicare-for-All bills on May 17th. Although prospects for passage are low this Congress, enthusiasm for organizing is high. By including everyone in health care, we save money. If only the Right and Left could unite on this eminently practical solution to our health care mess.”
Summary
Senator Bernie Sanders & Representative Pramila Jayapal re-introduced their Medicare-for-All bills on May 17th. Although prospects for passage are low this Congress, enthusiasm for organizing is high. By including everyone in health care, we save money. If only the Right and Left could unite on this eminently practical solution to our health care mess.
(Excerpt)
Sen. Bernie Sanders Renews Push for Medicare for All
to End ‘Totally Broken’ Health-Care System
by Lorie Konish, CNBC, May 17, 2023,
This week, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is renewing his push for a new approach — Medicare for All — that he touted as a presidential candidate…
With the support of Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Debbie Dingell of Michigan, the lawmakers plan to reintroduce a bill, titled Medicare for All Act of 2023, in both the House and the Senate on Wednesday.
In the House, the proposal will have 112 co-sponsors, more than they have ever had at the introduction of the bill, Jayapal noted, despite having fewer Democratic seats than in the previous Congress.
Medicare for All would create a single-payer program, which would allow one source to collect all health-care fees and pay all health-care costs…
(Excerpt)
The Evidence Is Clear: Medicare for All Will Save Money and Lives
by James G. Kahn & Alison Galvani, Common Dreams. May 18, 2023
Will Medicare for All raise or lower healthcare costs in the United States? Is it affordable?
We led two academic teams that published scientific papers to address this, the only peer-reviewed medical articles on this topic in the last 30 years. We worked separately, at Yale University and the University of California.
We think it’s time to retire doubts about the net cost of single payer or Medicare for All. The evidence for big savings is real.
Commentary
James G. Kahn, MD/MPH, for Health Justice Monitor
Senator Sanders has long battled for Medicare for All, and Representative Jayapal, Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, now spearheads the House effort.
These inspiring leaders re-introduced their legislative proposals, with many co-sponsors. Sad to say, this Congress (and this political moment) bodes poorly for passage. But it bodes well for organizing. Single payer discussion, education, and coalition-building continues, at the federal level and in the states.
The Common Dreams piece (full disclosure: I’m an author) reviews the powerful economic argument that savings (from administrative simplification and drug price reductions) means lowered costs despite increased access to and use of care, averting tens of thousands of deaths per year.
Single payer, Medicare-for-All is the right thing to do – efficient and effective. If we could only convince the GOP that it’s the Right thing to do! They certainly won’t be Left out when the US implements high quality universal health insurance. (Seriously, right and left are united on this issue in dozens of other countries, so it’s not such a crazy idea.)
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The McCanne Health Justice Monitor (HJM) is a health policy blog focused on the U.S. health system failings and single payer reform. A core team of health policy experts and guest contributors write posts several times per month, addressing topics ranging from healthcare inequity and waste, distortions introduced by profit motives, racism and racial inequities in health care, climate and environmental justice, global health and more.
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