YUGE Medicare For All News
photo: National Nurses United Leading On Medicare For All
By, Mike Hersh for Dr. Bill, Donna, Alan, Mike F., Janis, Deb, Dan, Kim, Bryan, and Shayna—your PDA National Medicare for All Team
URGENT: Tell Congress to Support
Expanded and Improved Medicare For All!
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) was founded in 2004 to mobilize for progress on specific policies, including Medicare For All (MFA). We’ve devoted our outreach to “Medicare For All Monday” messaging for several weeks. PDA is proud that two of the most renowned healthcare organizers in the USA are part of our family: Donna Smith, formerly our Executive Director and currently the Chair of our National Advisory Board; and Dr. Bill Honigman, our national staffer and California State Coordinator. These two stalwart, effective spokespeople make regular personal appearances at events, on TV, radio, and in print. They also lead our Healthcare is a Human Right issue team.
PDA is part of a national coalition organizing support for the new Medicare For All Act of 2019. This legislation—about to be introduced—will guarantee all medically necessary care including: in patient, out patient, surgery, hospitalization, emergency, mental, dental, vision, hearing, medical devices, tests, supplies, pharmaceuticals, therapy, long term, rehabilitation, preventative care—and more. All with no out-of-pocket costs. No premiums, no copays, no deductibles, no fees, no costs of any kind. We need your help now to mobilize for MFA; and that requires funding.
Call Congress 202-858-1717. Urge your Representative
to cosponsor Rep. Jayapal’s Medicare For All Act
Join PDA Making Medicare For All Progress
Dr. Bill recently discussed Medicare For All with the South Orange County Democratic Club. Here are some excerpts from his report:
Of particular interest to participants was the news that the new federal #MFA bill under the stewardship of Rep. Pramila Jayapal WA07, is now ready for introduction and the formal presentation planned for Wednesday February 27, 2019 with a press conference at 11a EST in the outside area of the Capitol Building in Washington DC known as the House Triangle. PDA’s own Capitol Hill team expects to attend.
First, we reviewed the crisis of American Healthcare: That even since full implementation of the ACA, there remains about 10% of the population or about 30 to 40 million Americans with no health insurance at all, and that number is now rising as the Trumpublicans manage to further subvert that bit of progress seemingly almost daily.
We also reviewed the accepted science that it is known that with a #SinglePayer expanded and improved #MedicareForAll system for any state or for the whole country, we are likely to save substantial amounts of money and preventable deaths, about 1,000 lives for every 1 million uninsured per year, and over $1 billion for every 1 million in the population per year.
Finally, what needs to be done is to continue to pressure our elected representatives both at the state and federal level to see that expanded and improved MFA is the bare minimum to undo the wrongs we are all dealing with, and what is needed is bold leadership to effect these bold changes.
We need more group discussions like the one we had this week at the South Orange County Democratic Club, more town halls and forums, movie showings, and canvassing to further raise awareness so that we and our friends and family can “call BS” to the propaganda that big insurance and big pharma and their Trumpublican tools try to throw our way. And we need PDA in coalition with our fantastic partner groups like NNU, Healthcare-Now, PNHP, and the Labor Campaign for Single Payer to get the support from all of us needed to continue the fight for MFA and #HealthcareJustice.
Onward!!
Dr. Bill Honigman
Read Dr. Bill’s whole report here. Also, please pitch in so we can send Dr. Bill all around the USA to give important talks like these. Along with giving, you can also help out by contacting your member of Congress and urging them to become an original cosponsor of Rep. Jayapal’s Medicare For AllAct.
This is the best healthcare legislation in our nation’s history. Please do all you can to ensure a powerful launch with as many cosponsors as possible. Call Congress: at 202-858-1717 to urge your Representative to cosponsor Rep. Jayapal’s Medicare For All Act. Also please pitch in $1000, $100, or whatever you can afford to support our organizing for Medicare For All.
P.S. We’re here to help you make progress in your state and locality! If you need help organizing a new PDA chapter or energizing your existing chapter, please contact PDA Field Coordinator Dan O’Neal. Join the PDA Phone Team making easy, effective calls from your own home with Mike “Phone Guy” Fox. Also please pitch in $1000, $100, or whatever you can afford to support our organizing for Medicare For All.
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