Besides the moneyed interests of the insurance companies and Big Pharma, businesses in general profit from keeping you dependent on them for health coverage because the threat of losing it discourages workers from forming labor unions and striking to fight for safe working conditions and pay appropriate to the risks you’re forced to take on the job.
That’s why no matter what candidates from the Big Two parties tell you when they want your vote, they will ALWAYS have another excuse for why this situation never really changes. Even the more progressive ones will always be held back by threats – if they challenge the status quo, suddenly in the next election cycle there are some primary challengers who are VERY well funded by the Democrat Party, and big business.
Other than the United States, every other country considered a “developed nation” by the UN provides universal healthcare – why should we be left out? I want to recognize healthcare as a human right, for all people in this country. Especially during a pandemic, anyone not being able to get the medical help they need while problems are still small and more manageable will only place a greater burden on the health care system, which hurts the rest of us.
My preferred solution is a national healthcare system, owned cooperatively by the people it serves, not by “investors.” That way the people vote directly for who the executive leadership will be and how surplus funds are treated, rather than it always going to already-rich people. If “Medicare for All” is the best proposal we can get the votes for, I won’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, so long as it isn’t a giveaway to Big Insurance/Big Pharma in disguise with an Orwellian name.
No matter what the final outcome, all members of Congress & their families need to receive ONLY the health care benefits & treatments guaranteed to everyone else, no supplemental insurance or other ways around it. If they want more treatment, they need to guarantee it’s available to everyone regardless of their finances. In engineering we refer to this as, “Eat your own dog food.”
Check out more details of the Green Party platform for universal healthcare here.
Harry R. Burger for Congress 