According to the 2021 DSA Member Survey and the 2021 Convention, Health Care and Medicare for All remain a top priority for DSA members. M4A has a strong base of support within DSA, and our first step must be to consolidate and strengthen that base of support. In order to get our chapters excited about organizing around universal healthcare, we have to articulate a clear vision for how we can win. We must take the big, multi-year fight for Medicare for All, and break it down into stepping stone campaigns that get us there.
DSA should prioritize campaigns that advance the socialist agenda by making demands that are broadly popular, deeply felt, and winnable. Depending on your local conditions, there are numerous ways to do that. You could campaign to pass a City Council resolution in support of M4A - setting the standard for local elected officials, or you could engage in anti-privatization efforts through targeting a corporation. You could organize your community to engage in political education, contest medical debt, or you could petition your city leaders to open a free health clinic. You could pressure your representative to co-sponsor the legislative Medicare for All bill, or consolidate a base that will withhold support unless a demand is met like a floor vote. You could organize for a viable statewide single payer healthcare legislation. You could fight back against local hospital closures. But first, you need to get your whole chapter onboard!
Below are some examples of chapters’ political resolutions that you can use in your chapter to help build support for M4A in your chapter or organizing committee. Take a look to see which one makes the most sense for your chapter, your community, and your goals. Find a comrade or two to get together and talk these ideas through. Every chapter faces different organizing conditions, but you can use these model resolutions as a starting point for getting your healthcare organizing started or re-started. Can you pass a Resolution in your chapter to make universal healthcare one of your political priorities for 2022? Make the commitment now: Sign up for the 2022 DSA M4A Campaign Here!
- Resolution to Make M4A a Political Priority - Louisville DSA
- 2021 - 2022 Healthcare Committee Mission Statement - Buffalo DSA
- Launch a Campaign to Win a M4A City Council Resolution - Greater Lafayette DSA
- Resolution to Prioritize Statewide Single Payer - NYC DSA
