THIS TIME ON CODE WACK!
Why is National Single Payer organizing a National Day of Action on May 31 amid cuts and freezes to public health programs? How has an incremental approach to universal health care in America made comprehensive healthcare reform more difficult?
To find out, we recently talked to Dr. Ana Malinow, who spent three decades working as a pediatrician with immigrant, refugee and underserved children before retiring as clinical professor of Pediatrics from UC San Francisco School of Medicine. The past president of Physicians for a National Health Program, she is on the steering committee of National Single Payer. She’s also a lead organizer for The Movement to End Privatization of Medicare.
This is the first episode in a two-part series.
Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!
And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.
SHOW NOTES
WE DISCUSS
Tell us about the National Day of Action for Single Payer coming up on May 31st. What’s it all about?
“On May 31, health and Justice social activists from across the country are coming out into the streets all over the country to demand that we remove profit from health care. So that is our major demand.
“And so far over 50 organizations from labor unions to veteran groups to single-payer organizations have endorsed the National Day of Action. And different cities from across the country are holding actions in their own local areas. The message is, we must get profit out of healthcare.
“The National Day of Action has four demands. They are:
-
- the recognition by our government that health care is a human right,
- the elimination of private health insurance, and the banning of for-profit, delivery of healthcare,
- the enactment of a publicly funded and publicly financed national single payer program that would provide comprehensive coverage to everyone.
And finally, that healthcare delivery must be transformed from profit seeking ventures into services organized to serve the people of our country, a system in which all caregivers are free from corporate control.” – Ana Malinow, MD
Where would people go to find out if there’s an action in their area?
“ … go to our website … It’s www.nationalsinglepayer.com. Go to our action page, and then you can scroll down and then look at our Google map and hover over your city. And there will be contact information for people to use so that they can contact the person, they can see where the action is going to be held at what time, and so forth.” – Ana Malinow, MD
The Trump administration has been cutting back or freezing funding for health care and public health agencies and seems opposed to single payer. Why hold this National Day of Action now?
“… What an important question. Now, I will take you back to December of 2024, when Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO was shot in New York City. The response from a large swath of people in this country was not your typical “sending you thoughts and prayers.”
“In fact, there was a collective righteous fury that percolated against the victim, not against the shooter … we know that at least 68,000 people die unnecessarily every year in this country because of our healthcare system.
“And … the Trump administration is threatening [the] public programs that we have: Medicare, though even more than half of it is already privatized Medicaid, which is 70% in private hands, the VA which is underfunded and being outsourced and even privatized even more.
“ … the best way to save and protect the public programs we have right now is to go on the offensive to demand a national single-payer healthcare system free from profit. Universal.” – Ana Malinow, MD
Helpful Links
Physicians for a National Health Program
Looking to 2025: Changing Health Care, and the Need for Courage, The Commonwealth Fund
Increasingly Privatized Public Health Insurance Programs in the US, JAMA Forum
Brian Thompson’s killing sparks outrage over state of US healthcare, The Guardian
Healthcare Administration Reimagined: Educating Moral Leaders in a Profit-Driven System, The Journal of Healthcare Ethics and Administration
Improving the prognosis of health care in the USA, National Library of Medicine
Episode Transcript
Read the full episode transcript.
Biography: Dr. Ana Malinow
Dr. Ana Malinow spent three decades working as a pediatrician with immigrant, refugee and underserved children in Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, and California before retiring as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics from the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.
She is past president of Physicians for a National Health Program and has been featured on national and international media on health care reform and the stealth privatization of Medicare.
She is currently a lead organizer for The Movement to End Privatization of Medicare and on the steering committee of National Single Payer.
Get Involved / Take Action
Love Code WACK!? Keep us on the air with a tax-deductible donation!
Subscribe to catch all Code WACK! episodes
Subscribe to HEAL California for our Weekly News Roundup with a California twist
Join Healthy California Now – a coalition working toward a California single-payer system. Individual and organizational memberships available.
You can also find us on ProgressiveVoices.com and NurseTalk Media.
This podcast is powered by HEAL California,
uplifting the voices of those fighting for healthcare justice.
____________________________________________________________________________
HEAL California is an independent news and information hub focused on the Medicare for All movement. We highlight the on-going injustices of our broken healthcare system and amplify the voices of those who are most impacted by it, with non-partisan news, views, podcasts and videos,
Our Podcasts shine a light on the failures of America’s healthcare system, while explaining how Medicare for All could help.
Our Media page offers connections to experts and additional resources including links to legislation and studies.
Keep up with the Medicare for All movement!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Subscribe for email updates, action alerts and more!