A majority of Americans support a Medicare-For-All proposal. 58% supported the proposal in December 2015. Only 34% opposed it. The results were consistent the next year:
Presented with three separate scenarios for the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 58% of U.S. adults favor the idea of replacing the law with a federally funded healthcare system that provides insurance for all Americans. — May 2016, Gallup
With the ignominious failure of Republican’s “plan” to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), several progressives are pushing to resurrect Medicare for All. Passage is unlikely since Republicans controlling both the House and Senate. But the general thinking is that with Republicans in disarray and warring with each other, anything’s possible. President Trump himself is a wild-card. During the campaign he seemed to suggest he supported universal healthcare. He’s famously unconcerned with policy details, and it is entirely possible he might support a Medicare for All proposal if there were public accolades to be had. The White House, desperate for something that looks like success, is signaling a desire to work with Democrats.
H.R. 676: Expanded & Improved Medicare For All Act is sponsored by John Conyers [D-MI-13]. Conyers first introduced this bill in 2003 and has reintroduced it in every Congress since. Support has fluctuated depending on whether healthcare reform was in the news:
The bill currently has 72 co-sponsors, which is not as high as it was in 2007-2010. In those years, healthcare reform was in the air and Democrats held 60 additional seats in the House. That said, 21 members signed on in Feb/March of this year, and many are new to Congress, so support is building. The list is below:
Huffman, Jared [CA-2], Lee, Barbara [CA-13], Clark, Katherine M. [MA-5], Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1], Clyburn, James E. [SC-6], Cohen, Steve [TN-9], Cummings, Elijah E. [M7], Ellison, Keith [MN-5], Engel, Eliot L. [NY-16], Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-3], Jackson, Lee, Sheila [TX-18], Lieu, Ted [CA-33], Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC-At Large], Pocan, Mark [WI-2], Roybal-Allard, Lucille [CA-40], Ryan, Tim [OH-13], Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [VA-3], Serrano, Jose E. [NY-15], Takano, Mark [CA-41], Kaptur, Marcy [OH-9], Jeffries, Hakeem S. [NY-8], Lewis, John [GA-5], Tonko, Paul [NY-20], Thompson, Bennie G. [MS-2], Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9], Watson Coleman, Bonnie [NJ-12], Welch, Peter [VT-At Large], Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-32], Brady, Robert A. [PA-1], Cartwright, Matt [PA-17], Pingree, Chellie [ME-1], Lawrence, Brenda L. [MI-14], Garamendi, John [CA-3], Lofgren, Zoe [CA-19], Blumenauer, Earl [OR-3], Kelly, Robin L. [IL-2], Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-9], Nolan, Richard M. [MN-8], Cleaver, Emanuel [MO-5], Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-20], Chu, Judy [CA-27], McGovern, James P. [MA-2], Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [GA-4], Nadler, Jerrold [NY-10], Jayapal, Pramila [WA-7], Doyle, Michael F. [PA-14], Adams, Alma S. [NC-12], Beatty, Joyce [OH-3], Green, Al [TX-9], DeSaulnier, Mark [CA-11], Moore, Gwen [WI-4], Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4], Yarmuth, John A. [KY-3], Davis, Danny K. [IL-7], Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1], Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-25], Lowenthal, Alan S. [CA-47], Raskin, Jamie [M8], Khanna, Ro [CA-17], Speier, Jackie [CA-14], Evans, Dwight [PA-2], Capuano, Michael E. [MA-7], Butterfield, G. K. [NC-1], Fudge, Marcia L. [OH-11], Bass, Karen [CA-37], Eshoo, Anna G. [CA-18], Higgins, Brian [NY-26], Bonamici, Suzanne [OR-1], Meeks, Gregory W. [NY-5], Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-12], Espaillat, Adriano [NY-13], Barragan, Nanette Diaz [CA-44]
Even Pelosi seems open to revisiting the public option, Medicare For All:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) held a town hall in her San Francisco district where she happily egged on protesters demanding a plan like Sanders’s.
“I supported single payer since before you were born,” said Pelosi, who has argued since the passage of the Affordable Care Act that it could be a bridge to European-style universal coverage. (The House passed a bill with the “public option” jargon to describe a Medicare-style national plan that could work as a competitor against private insurers.) — WaPo
If your Rep isn’t on this list, please call them to ask them why not? Be polite though, in many cases it’s just oversight. For instance, Maxine Waters, who has supported a public option since forever and co-sponsored the bill in previous years, hasn’t signed on yet.
The list of co-sponsors overlaps quite a bit with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is expected, they are the most left leaning members in the House. In the senate, support for single-payer, universal healthcare has been muted. The Senate could not pass a bill with a public option in 2010.
Bernie is the sole senator who is also a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He plans on introducing similar legislation in the Senate.
“I'm going to introduce a Medicare-for-all single-payer program," Sanders told anchor Dana Bash on CNN's "State of the Union." The Vermont senator, who has repeatedly stated his support for such a plan in the past, said he hoped to garner bipartisan support for the plan. — Politico
Call your Senators and ask them to support it. Some should be easy wins based on past positions:
Others have expressed support in recent town-halls:
Rhode Island’s two Democratic senators, joined by Rep. Jim Langevin, told several hundred happy constituents that the next step in health reform had to mean expanded coverage, provided by the government.
“We have to look harder at a single-payer system,” said Langevin (D-R.I.), using a term for universal coverage.
“I’m old enough to have voted for a single-payer system in the House,” said Sen. Jack Reed, Rhode Island’s senior senator.
“The very best market-based solution is to have a public option,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said. — WaPo
— @subirgrewal
Notes on the bill below…
HR 676, and Bernie’s prior bill, the American Health Security Act of 2013 are clearly starting points. Eligibility criteria from the text of HR 676 are:
All individuals residing in the United States (including any territory of the United States) are covered under the Medicare For All Program entitling them to a universal, best quality standard of care. Each such individual shall receive a card with a unique number in the mail. An individual’s Social Security number shall not be used for purposes of registration under this section.
If the bill gets traction, there will be legislative battles around who should be covered and who qualifies as a “resident”. Citizens are most likely to be covered, followed by permanent residents (green card holders) and documented temporary works/students etc. The biggest battles will be over whether or not to cover undocumented residents, and children who are undocumented. There is language in the bill to discourage medical tourism by temporary visitors.
Funding is bound to be another flashpoint. Though Medicare For All is expected to lower the aggregate cost of health-care in the US significantly, it will require additional tax revenue and increase the federal budget. Most households are expected to save overall since premiums will fall and revenue measures will be progressive. The CBO hasn’t scored HR 676 and Democrats backed off from requesting a floor vote on single-payer when the ACA was passed. There is however, a survey of cost studies at Physicians for a National Health Program that suggests savings over current health-care costs would be substantial. Most of the studies assume health insurance marketing, administration and other costs would plummet, as would prescription drug prices. That lines up with the observation that other countries have far lower average cost of care than the US does.
HR 676 currently states that funding will be provided by:
(A) Existing sources of Federal Government revenues for health care.
(B) Increasing personal income taxes on the top 5 percent income earners.
(C) Instituting a modest and progressive excise tax on payroll and self-employment income.
(D) Instituting a modest tax on unearned income.
(E) Instituting a small tax on stock and bond transactions.
The bill requires Congress to re-evaluate the need for a separate Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Health program after 10 years. Indian Health Services Programs will be folded in Medicare-For-All after 5 years. Medicaid and CHIP would be folded into Medicare.
Several progressive organizations are working to spark support for Medicare-For-All:
Even before the Republicans withdrew their Obamacare repeal bill, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee and a close Sanders ally, previewed this message at a rally in defense of Obamacare on Thursday.
“Don’t just be satisfied with defeating Trumpcare ― set your sights on creating real Medicare for all!” he told a cheering crowd of hundreds of activists. Ellison is a co-sponsor of a “Medicare for all” bill in the House.
Representatives of several major progressive organizations ― the Working Families Party, the Progressive Campaign Change Committee, Credo, Social Security Works and the National Nurses United ― all echoed this push in conversations with The Huffington Post on Friday and Saturday. — HuffPo
Several Democrats have been using the identical rhetoric, framing health care as a right, including John Lewis:
“Mr. Speaker, I have said it time and time again. Health care is a right. It is not a privilege reserved for a wealthy few,” Lewis said.