[1]NNU - Medicare for All!



Our fragmented, for-profit health care system is failing patients and
providers alike, forcing many providers who are unwilling to work in
unsafe environments away from the bedside and leaving patients waiting
longer for care.

According to a new Axios article aptly titled “Health shrinkflation:
Patients wait more for less,” health care wait times are increasing and
provider-patient relationships are worsening under our current system.

As the article notes, “The U.S. spends more on health care than almost
anywhere else. But increasingly patients are getting less in return, and
enduring long waits to get not as much face-time with their clinician.”
According to health records company Tebra, 17% of patients had to wait one
to three months for their latest doctor’s appointment.^1

Part of this is due to pent-up demand for health care services following
the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as 43% of patients reported
experiencing longer wait times for appointments since the pandemic. But
it’s also because hospitals are trying to make providers do more with less
staff and resources — an unsustainable practice that puts profits over
patients.

One of the common misconceptions about a single-payer health care system
is that it would result in longer patient wait times. But contrary to
popular belief, Medicare for All wouldn’t result in longer wait times – in
fact, we already have longer wait times than many countries with
single-payer systems, and they’re increasing under our for-profit
system.^2

[ [link removed] ]^[ [link removed] ]KFF Figure 15: Percent of Adults Who Made a Same-Day or Next Day
Appointment When Needed Care, 2016

There is no way out of this toxic cycle unless we move away from the
current for-profit model and establish Medicare for All.

The more we can inform and increase the public demand for a single-payer
system that guarantees health care for all regardless of a person’s
ability to pay, the sooner we can achieve it and get the care we need when
we need it.

[ [link removed] ]Read the latest article from Axios and [ [link removed] ]KFF’s study comparing health
care costs and outcomes across different countries, then forward this
email to friends and family and encourage them to do the same!

In solidarity,

Nurses’ Campaign to Win Medicare for All

Sources:

1 - [ [link removed] ]Health shrinkflation: Patients wait more for less

2 - [ [link removed] ]International Comparison of Health Systems



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