Thursday, November 22, 2018

Tell congressional Democrats to join the Medicare for All Caucus


Petition to congressional Democrats:
"Join the Medicare for All Caucus. Every Democrat should be able to support an idea that produces universal healthcare at lower overall costs."
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
All congressional Democrats should join the Medicare for All Caucus
This year, more Democrats campaigned for office supporting Medicare for All than ever before – and they were swept to victory in a massive wave.
In 2010, only 27 percent of Democratic candidates supported something like Medicare for All and Democrats lost their majority in the House of Representatives. This year, voters looked at a Democratic slate where more than 58 percent of candidates supported Medicare for All – and gave them control of the House.1
More than 70 House Democrats have launched a new Medicare for All Caucus to fight for this commonsense, life-saving and cost-reducing solution.2 But after the ringing endorsement of voters, we need to make sure every other Democrat gets the message and joins the Medicare for All Caucus.
Despite eight years of Republican attacks on the Affordable Care Act and universal health care coverage, the midterms showed that voters demand more and better healthcare. Voters in red states demanded the expansions of Medicaid that Republicans once blocked. Republican members of Congress were punished for trying to repeal the ACA. And a new wave of Democrats was swept into office while openly declaring their support for Medicare for All.3
Predatory insurance companies and Big Pharma stand between people and their doctors and use monopoly power to rob us blind. Medicare for All would replace the for-profit leeches that drive up costs without making us any healthier. Even one recent right-wing study found that Medicare for All would result in more health care coverage and better outcomes while reducing overall U.S. medical costs.4 Medicare for All would also improve the program for today's seniors by including younger people and adding dental and hearing coverage into Medicare.
Medicare for All has become the mainstream, common-sense position. Even some newly elected Democrats who intend to join the corporate "New Democrat" caucus actually support Medicare for All.5 But with many conservative Democrats still resisting, we need to build big momentum for Medicare for All going into the new Congress.
Medicare already covers 40 million Americans over the age of 65, providing quality care at prices that are much lower than the private market. If we start by lowering the Medicare eligibility age, it will provide competition to bloated predatory insurance companies and bring us closer to the day when people are covered from birth.
Medicare and Medicaid are our nation’s most effective and efficient health care programs, but right-wing Republicans have long had their sights set on dismantling our social safety net. Now, Trump is helping them do it. Their ultimate goal has been to end Medicare as we know it and cause skyrocketing premiums and loss of coverage for nearly 57 million of us. We cannot fight back with half-hearted, corporate solutions.
After Nov. 8, every Democrat should have heard the message loud and clear – but some may need a bit more volume. That's where we come in.
Tell all Democrats in Congress to join the Medicare for All Caucus. Click below to sign the petition:
- Josh Nelson, CREDO Action
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
References:
  1. Aida Chavez, "Democrats have moved significantly to the left since 2010, new study shows," The Intercept, Nov 6.
  2. Nancy Altman, "Two Visions for Medicare’s Future: Destroy It, Or Expand It To Cover Everyone," Social Security Works, July 30, 2018.
  3. Paul Waldman, "Yes, it was a wave. Here are all the other ways progressives won." The Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2018.
  4. Dylan Scott, "Bernie Sanders’s $32 trillion Medicare-for-all plan is actually kind of a bargain," Vox, July 30, 2018.
  5. Chavez, "Democrats have moved significantly to the left since 2010, new study shows."

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