Friend, I truly believe that we don’t suffer from scarcity in America, we suffer from greed, and that’s most clear in our broken health care system.

In America today, despite spending twice as much per person on health care as other wealthy nations, more than 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, one out of every four Americans cannot afford their prescriptions, and over half a million people go bankrupt due to medically-related debt.

Frankly, it’s become an international embarrassment that we are the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all of its citizens

That’s why Bernie and I joined with hundreds of nurses and health care workers last week to reintroduce the Medicare for All Act in Congress.

People deserve and want comprehensive health care that covers mental health, long-term care, reproductive care, dental, vision, and hearing, all without copays, private insurance premiums, sky-high deductibles, or other hidden fees.

You can see the rampant greed in all corners of our health care system. Since 2001, the top healthcare companies in America have spent 95 percent of their profits, $2.6 trillion, not on making Americans healthy but on making their CEOs and stockholders obscenely rich.

While nearly one out of four Americans cannot afford the life-saving medicine their doctors prescribe, ten top pharma companies made $102 billion in profits in 2024.

Meanwhile, the CEOs of just 4 prescription drug companies – Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, and Merck – together made over $100 million last year.

So it’s time to create a health care system that finally puts people over profits.

That’s especially true when you consider that Medicare for All would save all of us money. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Medicare for All would save our health care system $650 billion annually.

Not only that, but researchers at Yale University have estimated that Medicare for All would save 68,000 lives a year. Let’s never forget that our fight is about saving lives.

Health care is a human right, which is exactly why it’s time to make Medicare for All happen. Let’s keep up the right.

Solidarity,
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal
Sanders Institute Fellow