Last night we were joined by nearly 400 nurses and community members from across the country to gather together, take stock of where our movement is at, and chart out a path ahead for our organizing over the next few months.

We heard some energizing words from Jean Ross, RN and President of National Nurses United, who reminded us of the urgency of our health care crisis and why we must keep fighting.

We also heard inspiring remarks from prominent health care justice leader Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who spoke about how the pandemic has revealed not just that Medicare for All is possible but that it is necessary to achieve true justice and equity in health care.

And finally, we unveiled our organizing strategy for the months ahead, including:

Patients Over Profits Campaign

This year, we are renewing our focus on the Patients Over Profits Pledge, and calling on candidates and elected officials to reject campaign contributions from the corporate health care industry. Together, we secured 70 signers on the pledge last year. Our goal now is to reach 100 total signers by International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day (May 1).

Not only that, but we’re also taking a specific focus this year on a few key states in the South: North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee. We know that the South as a region is ripe for organizing and building momentum against corporate encroachment on our democracy. The South has some of the lowest health outcomes and highest rates of uninsurance in the country, is where union density is historically low, and notably is where many corporate health care giants are based.

If you live in these states, we especially want to work with you this year. But even if you don’t, we need volunteers in every corner of the country to help build the power of the Patients Over Profits pledge. As a volunteer on the team, you’ll help reach out to elected officials and candidates to ask them to take the pledge, and we’ll give you all the materials and support you’ll need. Sign up here to join us on the Patients Over Profits volunteer team.

Medicare for All Re-Introduction in the House and Senate

With a new session of Congress comes the re-introduction of Medicare for All legislation to the US House and Senate! Last night, we spoke about the timeline and what we’ll need to be prepared to do once we know more.

We don’t know yet exactly when these bills will be re-introduced by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Senator Bernie Sanders, but it is likely that it will be sometime this spring. As soon as we do know, we’ll need to be ready to hit the ground running. Every previous cosponsor — and any new Medicare for All supporters in Congress — must take the step to sign on or back on to the bills, and it's up to us to ensure that this happens. We’ll need your help to make phone calls, write letters, post on social media, and more to reach out to your legislators. Sign up here to be the first to know and to be ready to take action when we hear more about the Medicare for All bill re-introductions.

Fighting back against Medicare Privatization

Finally, we spent some time talking together last night about the current fight back against the privatization of Medicare itself. While we continue to fight for Medicare for All, fighting to protect Medicare from privatization and budget cuts is critical.

There are two main pillars behind the privatization of Medicare — the long-established but expanding program called Medicare Advantage and a new pilot program called ACO REACH.

Medicare Advantage, also known as Medicare Part C, is a type of plan offered within Medicare that is administered by private health insurers. Medicare Advantage plans typically cover 25% fewer services, require prior authorization, often result in more delays and denials, and incentivize less care than traditional Medicare.

During the end of the Trump administration, a new pilot program was launched that today is known as ACO REACH. The program invites private health care corporations to manage traditional Medicare plans without the knowledge or consent of Medicare beneficiaries. 1.8 million people have already been auto-enrolled in this pilot program, with the potential to grow to tens of millions of people.

What do these two programs have in common? They allow private health care corporations to silently profit off what should be a high quality, public program. So what can we do to fight back?

Right now, there’s a time sensitive way you can take action to fight back against the proliferation of Medicare Advantage.

At the beginning of each congressional session, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), one of the biggest lobbying groups in the corporate health care industry, circulates a letter for congressional sign-on that supports Medicare Advantage programs. We expect this will happen in the coming days, and we need as many members of Congress to stay off the letter as possible. Use this tool created by our friends at Social Security Works to reach out to your members of Congress and ask them to stay off this letter.

It’s on us to build on our organizing efforts and advance the movement for Medicare for All in 2023. We need your help to continue pushing to gain new cosponsors in Congress, stand up to corporate influence in our politics, and more. Thank you for being a part of our critical work. We’ll be in touch soon with even more information on actions you can take.

In solidarity,

Nurses’ Campaign to Win Medicare for All