Support for Medicare for All has never been greater, and the failures of incremental reform have never been so clear.
Our demand for a federally funded single-payer Medicare for All system has fast become the leading issue for insurgent democratic socialist politicians. And it has captured the imagination of the working-class majority too. Recently, Representatives Keith Ellison, Pramila Jayapal, and Debbie Dingell announced the new Medicare for All Caucus in the House. Single-payer will soon be a litmus test for all politicians.
This is in no small part thanks to our work in DSA. Every week, thousands of members are organizing across the country to pressure elected officials and talk to their neighbors, co-workers and family members to broaden the support for Medicare for All. We’re building the movement for a piece of real democratic socialism.
However, we have a long road ahead. The Trump administration and the billion dollar lobbying operation launched by the insurance industry are dead-set on discrediting the Medicare for All movement. Moreover, our threats are not limited to them. In many ways, we have a more insidious danger to confront: the liberal establishment.
Recently, liberal pundits in the press have muddied the debate on Medicare for All. The intellectual arm of the Democratic Party establishment wants you to believe that Medicare for All is nothing more than a measly “public option.” They want to sneak incremental reforms in through the back-door. They want to leave the parasitic insurance industry intact.
In order to fight this hucksterism we need you to organize and show up for our next Weekend of Action. We need to send a clear message that Medicare for All means abolishing the private health insurance industry and establishing a single system, that is free at the point of service and provides comprehensive coverage to all residents. Full stop.
Members should canvass, table, hold educational events and town halls, anything that gets DSA members talking to workers, students, retirees and everyone in between about the healthcare crisis and the only solution that works for all of us. If you want to get your chapter involved but aren’t sure what to do, reach out to us at [email protected], or see our Organizing Guide for some ideas. And if your chapter is already planning something for August 11th or 12th, be sure to let us know about your action here.
In April, forty-five DSA chapters and organizing committees participated in our first Weekend of Action, knocking on thousands of doors and talking to tens of thousands of people about Medicare for All. And we need this Weekend of Action to be bigger. To win we will need to reach millions, in our workplaces, schools and neighborhoods. We need to win at the ballot box, in the streets and on the shop-floor. We cannot afford to let our demand get watered down, and we certainly can’t afford the status quo.
Sign Your Local Up for Our Upcoming Medicare for All Weekend of Action!