Onward to Medicare for All

We received the following from Campaign for a Healthy California. Never backwards! Onward to #Medicare4All!

It was a hard fought election cycle this year. We came up short in our effort to achieve universal healthcare in Colorado and were narrowly defeated on securing lower prescription drug prices in California (Prop 61), largely due to Big Pharma pumping in 131 Million dollars on a misinformation campaign to defeat the measure. Not the outcomes we wanted, but we will roll up our sleeves and fight on!

And now that the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election has sunk in, we as healthcare activists must come to grips with the changes that lie ahead for our healthcare system. With Donald Trump and a Republican Congress preparing to govern starting January, attacks on Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Health Care Act are imminent. We know any GOP “solution” to our healthcare crisis will fall well short of what we need to ensure a single standard of quality healthcare for all. In fact, if we don’t act, we can surely expect the numbers of uninsured and underinsured to vastly increase. That is why we must act—starting right now.

Last Saturday our Campaign for a Healthy California joined with the AllCare Alliance and convened leaders from around the state to form a Medicare for All Collaborative aimed at winning Medicare for all in the Golden State. The Medicare for All Collaborative brings together the two single payer statewide coalitions which is jointly comprised of 226 union and community organizations representing over four million Californians (see our joint statement here). The attacks on our healthcare will require a sound solution. The good news is that we already have the solution: Single Payer Healthcare! We already know that 81% of Democrats, 60% of Independents, and 37% of Republicans support a Medicare-for-All style single payer system…and those numbers are likely even higher in some states like California. 

Now is the time for states like California to lead, to stand against the inhumane cuts proposed and for Healthcare as a Human Right. Through building a grassroots movement we have a true opportunity to achieve healthcare for all in many states across the country sooner than we think. And with that achievement, comes lower prescription drug costs, an end to astronomical health insurance premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, and most importantly—healthcare security for everyone. Together, we can achieve that dream! Here is an easy way you can help make that dream a reality:

Add your Name, City, State, Zip Code to help with outreach to legislators on single payer and other key healthcare reform issues >>

Thank you for all you do to achieve healthcare for all!

In Unity,
Campaign for a Healthy California

P.S. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, please join us to fight Trump and Ryan’s attacks on our healthcare and call for Healthcare as a Human Right, Tuesday November 22nd at 11am (sharp) at LAC+USC Medical Center: 2051 Marengo St., Los Angeles, CA 90033 (view event flyer) and invite your friends on Facebook!

Published November 18th, 2016

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