[ [link removed] ]Democratic Socialists for Medicare for All

Dear John,

Hello and welcome to the May issue of All In, the Democratic Socialists
for Medicare for All newsletter!

We are excited to announce a campaign in support of the Health Care
Emergency Guarantee Act, [ [link removed] ]which is legislation introduced by Sen. Bernie
Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal that would empower Medicare to cover all
healthcare costs for the uninsured and all out-of-pocket expenses for
those with insurance for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.

The legislation also “bans surprise billing, empowers Medicare to purchase
pharmaceuticals at the same prices as the VA, and prevents private
insurance companies from increasing copayments and deductibles, or
decreasing coverage, for the duration of the health care crisis.”

[ [link removed] ]Healthcare Emgergency Guarantee Act -- DSA Medicare for ALl

[ [link removed] ]Our campaign calls on our representatives to support the Health Care
Emergency Guarantee Act specifically.

This campaign will include a variety of tactics, starting with national
and local virtual phone banks to start pressuring our representatives
while maintaining social distancing. We have a variety of resources to
help you and your chapter, including:

* [ [link removed] ]A template script for pressuring your reps
* [ [link removed] ]A Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act summary
* [ [link removed] ]Bernie’s priorities for the next coronavirus relief package

If you want to get involved in this work but aren’t sure how, reach out to
your chapter leadership, or let us know by [ [link removed] ]signing up here.

Lastly, today is May 1, otherwise known as May Day or International
Workers' Day. Medicare for All is a key working-class political demand
that would not only materially improve the lives of millions of people by
fixing our broken healthcare system, it would also [ [link removed] ]serve to unlock the
power of a mass, working-class movement in the United States. Today and
everyday, we are proud to be in this fight with countless others fighting
for Medicare for All.

If you have friends, family members or colleagues who are interested in
keeping up with the campaign, [ [link removed] ]tell them to sign up here to receive All
In straight to their inbox. Thanks for reading, and see you next month!

From the campaign

News from the M4A blog and the broader campaign

The COVID-19 crisis lays bare how ill-prepared our healthcare system is to
tackle a pandemic. [ [link removed] ]Fortunately, there are ways we can still fight back
through organizing and collective action. Among them: talk to your older
family members and friends about the need for Medicare for All; join a
single-payer advocacy group (DSA!); pressure your legislators and the
medical establishment; and prepare to respond to common misconceptions
about Medicare for All.

The shadowy operation to undermine Medicare for All is a whole rotten
industry unto itself, backed by industry-supporting players like
Partnership for America’s Health Care Future (PAHCF) and politicians like
Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden. What’s clear, though, is that messages
spouted by a lobbying group and many Democratic politicians have no real
resonance with the general American public — [ [link removed] ]69 percent of whom say
they support Medicare for All. As [ [link removed] ]Luke Savage writes in Jacobin,
“Every time a Democratic politician or network talking head suggests
Medicare For All would undermine freedom of choice or rob average
Americans of their oh-so-beloved private health insurance plans, it’s the
more or less direct outgrowth of a concerted effort by special interests
spending unfathomable sums of money to protect their profits.”

News

Related news articles, essays, articles from outlets beyond the campaign

Why won’t Joe Biden end his outdated opposition to Medicare for All,
especially after a recent poll showed 88 percent of surveyed registered
Democrats support the policy? “Hey, ⁦Joe Biden, as a Democrat running for
president in a pandemic, this looks like a popular idea,” said Michael
Lighty, a health policy expert and advocate, [ [link removed] ]via an article by Jon
Queally in Common Dreams. It’s a question Joe has yet to answer.

Yet another study shows that Medicare for All would save billions of
dollars and tens of millions of lives. Researchers from the Yale School of
Public Health, the University of Florida, and the University of Maryland
School of Medicine published their findings in The Lancet in February,
writing, “we calculate that a single-payer, universal health-care system
is likely to lead to a 13% savings in national health-care expenditure,
equivalent to more than US$450 billion annually (based on the value of the
US$ in 2017).” What’s more, they found “the entire system could be funded
with less financial outlay than is incurred by employers and households
paying for health-care premiums combined with existing government
allocations.”

Alison Galvani, lead author of the study, [ [link removed] ]noted in an interview on
Democracy Now that Medicare for All could prevent 68,000 deaths every year
— and that’s a conservative estimate. “If we can reduce their mortality
rate to be in line with people that do have health insurance, then we
would save — conservatively, save 68,000,” Galvani told Democracy Now host
Amy Goodman. “That’s 68,000 compared to the status quo. When we compare
access prior to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, it’s 107,000.”

Social media

The best stuff from our feeds

💩 [ [link removed] ]We are not endorsing Joe Biden

💪 [ [link removed] ]“Medicare for All didn’t die when Sen. Bernie Sanders suspended his
presidential campaign. Far from it.”

😎 [ [link removed] ]Nice

🇺🇸 [ [link removed] ]File under: headlines you only see in the United States of America

🤔 [ [link removed] ]What if hospitals weren’t run for profit?

🐍 You don’t need us to tell you this but, [ [link removed] ]COBRA sucks


 
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