We know how the corporate health care industry in the United States has been using their oversized influence on politicians to block even the most incremental reforms.
We saw this on full display in the fight over Medicare expansion in President Biden’s Build Back Better plan back in 2021: corporate Democrats along with every Republican managed to block popular reforms that a number of organizations - including National Nurses United - proudly fought for, such as expanding Medicare to include hearing, vision, and dental, and lowering the eligibility age from 65 to 60.
These reforms would have helped millions of people, and were a small piece of the larger reforms that need to happen to fix our broken system. But the politicians beholden to the corporate health care industry successfully stood in their way.
In the end, the only piece of the Medicare expansion proposal that passed through the Inflation Reduction Act was allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices of a short list of prescription drugs. While this was a fraction of what was originally proposed, it was still a huge victory.
Last week, the Biden Administration announced the first 10 drugs that will be negotiated on for the first time ever starting in 2026. These are some of the most common and costly medications to treat conditions like heart failure, blood clots, diabetes, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and more, and additional drugs will be added in years to come.
This policy will make a huge difference in people's lives, lowering the costs of medication for tens of millions of seniors. But the industry still won’t let up: Big Pharma is pushing back through lawsuits to try to stop the price negotiations from being implemented.
The more politicians we get to take our pledge and refuse campaign contributions from corporate health care interests, the sooner we’ll be in a position to pass Medicare for All!
In solidarity,
Nurses' Campaign To Win Medicare For All
 |
 |
 |
Email us: [email protected]
This email was sent to [email protected]. You can update your information here.
Email is the most important way we stay in touch with you. To receive fewer emails, click here. If you want to unsubscribe from our mailing list, you can remove yourself here.