Team,

For far too long, we’ve seen the drastic impacts of our broken health care system: 87 million uninsured or underinsured, rising infant and maternal mortality rates that disproportionately impact communities of color, unaffordable prescription drugs, and families going bankrupt from medical debt — all while we spend more than our peer countries on health care. And now, just since the pandemic hit, 27 million Americans have lost their health care because they lost their jobs.

That is just now who we are as a country. This pandemic has shined a light on the devastating effects of that broken system and the importance that everyone has access to high-quality care, testing, and treatment. That's why it is so critical that our next president tackle this crisis head-on.

Yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden announced unity task forces on a number of policy issues that will shape the Democratic Party’s platform in the months and years ahead. I’m proud to announce that I will co-chair the health care policy group along with former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. The group will include some excellent minds who I believe can together craft and carry out an ambitious, progressive health policy agenda that reflects our best and boldest thinking.

The #NotMeUs movement that Bernie helped lead was all about our shared commitment to end an inhumane, for-profit health care system and to guarantee high-quality affordable health care for everyone — everyone in and nobody out. That’s what our task force will seek to do — and that’s what our Medicare for All movement is all about.

Stay in the fight: big changes require organizing, strategy, deep commitment and never giving up. I know I can count on you to keep up all those efforts and to stand with Bernie and me for a better future.

In solidarity,

Pramila