[1]NNU - Medicare for All!
As we finalize our plans for the new year, we’re continuing our email
series to refresh you on what Medicare for All is and how it would work by
reviewing [ [link removed] ]the six core MFA principles, which you can read and share
with others here.
Today’s email is focused on the principle of a single public system. Under
Medicare for All, U.S. health care would be publicly funded, through
progressive taxation, to cover all necessary care for every resident in
the United States. Despite right-wing talking points, this single system
would actually eliminate billions in waste and save people thousands on
their health care costs!
Our current, for-profit system, with its patchwork combination of public
and private insurance, is expensive and riddled with administrative bloat.
U.S. spending on health care has drastically increased over time to $4.5
trillion in 2022, with almost 1 out of every 5 dollars spent toward health
care.^1
[ [link removed] ]KFF Figure 1: Total National Health Expenditures, US$, 1970-2022
While the Affordable Care Act helped reduce some costs, overhead is still
close to 30% of total spending when advertising, lobbying, and other
non-health care related activities are added to administrative costs,
resulting in only 70 cents on every health care dollar being spent
actually going toward our health care.^2
Even a study conducted by the Mercatus Center, a conservative think tank,
concluded that the U.S. would save $2 trillion over ten years by
guaranteeing health care for everyone with Medicare for All. The United
States spends 2.5 times the average of other industrialized countries, or
an average of $11,193 per person annually, yet we still don’t provide
health care to everyone.^3 And that’s in addition to the out-of-pocket
costs patients pay, which have also continued to increase.
[ [link removed] ]KFF Figure 2: Per Capita Out-of-Pocket Expenditures, 1970-2022
Not only would Medicare for All save a ton of money — it’s what the
majority of people want! According to Gallup, a new poll shows 62% of U.S.
adults believe “it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure
all Americans have health care coverage.”^4
That’s the highest percentage of support in more than a decade!
The people of this country demand and deserve a single public health care
system that reduces costs while also improving health outcomes and
guaranteeing care for all — and we’re going to keep building on that
momentum until Medicare for All is passed into law.
In solidarity,
Nurses’ Campaign to Win Medicare for All
1 - [ [link removed] ]Health Care Costs and Affordability
2 - [ [link removed] ]Q&A: The National Medicare for All Debate
3 - Ibid
4 - [ [link removed] ]More in U.S. See Health Coverage as Government Responsibility
You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]
