DSA is proud to endorse and celebrate Pramila Jayapal’s Medicare for All Act of 2019, which was released Wednesday with more than 100 co-sponsors.
We believe this bill represents significant gains in uniting working people around a common goal, and that it is the most significant step to date toward transforming America’s broken healthcare system. Medicare for All is an increasingly popular policy proposal and is fast becoming a litmus test among Democratic primary candidates, with support from 70% of Americans, including 52% of Republicans, according to MarketWatch.
“Healthcare is a human right and this bill is the only one in the House to keep insurance executives from standing between patients and caregivers,” said DSA National Director Maria Svart. “Half measures won't take the profits out of healthcare. We need real Medicare for All.”
Alongside Senator Bernie Sanders’ Senate bill, the Medicare for All Act of 2019 (H.R.1384) is the only legislation to meet DSA’s five principles for a truly single-payer system. The Medicare for All Act of 2019 would establish a single system that universally and comprehensively covers all US residents. It would cover all medically necessary care, including long-term care services and reproductive health services, without any premiums, deductibles, or copays. The Medicare for All Act of 2019 also provides a jobs program for those affected by the transition.
DSA is just one of many coalition organizations that campaigned for support for the bill. The Medicare for All campaign operates in more than 100 DSA chapters with thousands of members across the country building congressional support for the bill.
“This is a milestone in the fight for universal healthcare and an equitable society, where working people make the decisions that determine our destiny,” said Michael Lighty, Sanders Institute Fellow. “Now our task is to build a mass organization of working people that will not give up until we win.”
DSA’s Medicare for All campaign is excited to continue efforts to get the bill to the floor for a vote. On February 28, the campaign will continue the popular Nothing Less! speaking tour featuring Michael Lighty, a long-time single-payer champion and Sanders Institute Fellow. Learn more about the tour here.
