Rep. Pramila Jayapal re-introduced the Medicare for All bill last week with a record 112 original cosponsors – up now to 114. We talk about surprise sign-ons, powerful stories from the cosponsoring Reps, the first national endorsement of a hospital CEO, and the epic organizing effort that got us to this stage! Show Notes Representative…

We’re joined by Stephanie Kang, Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s Health Policy Director, to discuss the upcoming 2021 Medicare for All bill, which will be shortly reintroduced in Congress. Kang also discusses changes made to the membership rules of the Progressive Caucus, and the most effective way to lobby your legislator during COVID! Show Notes We are…

In the House, we have about half of the cosponsors we need to pass Medicare for All. Democrats who are not currently cosponsors (and constitute the other half we need to win) represent districts that are whiter and wealthier than the districts we’ve already won. What does this mean for our movement and how do we organize in this next phase?

Is the supposedly “private” Netherlands healthcare system a model for the US? And what would it take, politically and in terms of concrete policy, to transition to this system? Dr. Kieke Okma, an expert on healthcare systems around the world, joins us to discuss how exactly the Dutch healthcare system works (to start: its 80%…

This week we chat with Dr. Bita Amani, an epidemiologist and Associate Professor for Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and Lead Co-Chair of the COVID-19 Taskforce on Racism and Equity which is housed in the UCLA Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice, and Health. We talk about how health played…

Public Citizen’s Eagan Kemp joins us as we dive into the history of the individual mandate (spoiler: it’s a conservative idea), why it disproportionately punishes low-income people, and how progressive taxation under a single payer plan would be much more equitable than our current flat premium system. We look back at how such a regressive…

This is how intertwined the Medicare for All and public mail movements are: if we had a national single payer system in place for the last decade, the USPS would be running a surplus. Steve DeMatteo of the American Postal Workers Union joins us to discuss the surprising connections between the postal service and our…

This week we host Dr. Monika Dutt, Board member of Canadian Doctors for Medicare and a public health and family physician in Nova Scotia. She fills us in on the historic legal challenge to the Medicare program that was just decided by the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The plaintiff, a for-profit surgery clinic, sought…

Barbara DiPietro is the Senior Director of Policy at the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. She joins us this week to talk about what homelessness looks like in the United States, the wildly disporportionate incidence of COVID-19 in people currently experiencing homelessness, and how the dual crises of rising unemployment and insurance loss…

University of Massachusetts economist Gerald Friedman talks about his recent debate at the Soho Forum with Sally Pipes, a leading figure in the conservative anti-single payer movement. He breaks down the major lines of attack used by the right against Medicare for All, including wait times, horror stories, and free market ideology. Show Notes This…

Chelsea has had 66 doctor appointments to manage her enduring coronavirus symptoms, which are appearing in almost every system of her body. She discusses the support group that she started to connect people struggling with the physical, mental, logistical, and financial struggles of COVID long haulers. The experience has turned her into a Medicare for…

Mark Dudzic, National Coordinator for the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, joins us again to take a deep dive into the recent history of Medicare for All organizing within the labor movement, including the political calculations made during the failed Clinton health reform push, the changing landscape for unions through the Affordable Care Act, labor’s…

Mark Dudzic, National Coordinator of the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare, talks about his experiences as a union president that led him to become a Medicare for All activist. He answers our questions about the conflicts in the labor movement over Medicare for All that played out in the presidential primary, the Supreme Court…

We talk with Linda Benesch of Social Security Works about the state of longterm care in the United States – the skimpy coverage provided by public programs like Medicare and Medicaid, the outrageous costs, the for-profit corporations running the vast majority of our nursing homes, and the people – the 70% of Americans who will…

Stephanie’s father-in-law, a Danish citizen, is currently moving into assisted living just outside of Copenhagen. His flat is only $1,000 per month, and the home help and rehabilitation he’ll receive is totally free of charge. We wondered about the differences between the U.S. and Denmark’s longterm care system, so we invited a special guest to…

Next week, Medicare for All lead sponsors Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal will introduce a bill that will authorize Medicare to fully cover medical costs for the uninsured until we have a widely available vaccine for COVID-19. The bill would also provide wrap-around coverage for everyone on public or private insurance. We contrast…

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal draft a bill that would expand Medicare to all who are uninsured for the duration of the crisis. Nancy Pelosi introduces a bill that would cover the full cost of premiums for people who lost employer-sponsored health insurance. Unfortunately, that accounts for…

We take a look at the impact that Bernie Sanders campaign had on the Medicare for All movement. COVID-19 brings out the pinko commie in NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, who decides to socialize the NY hospital systems. People of color are, as with everything health-related, hit disproportionately by the effects of COVID-19, with blacks being…

COVID-19 reveals what we knew all along: that employment-based health insurance is messed up. In this episode, we explore the consequences that unjust policies and an inadequate safety net have brought to bear in the face of a public health crisis. Joe Biden also takes some heat for doubling down on his opposition to Medicare…

COVID-19 presents unprecedented challenges for us here at Healthcare-NOW. Many of our activists have underlying health conditions or are part of other vulnerable populations (the uninsured, seniors, low-income) and must take quarantine very seriously; some – healthcare workers at the front lines, or residents of assisted living communities – will be separated from their families…

Medicare for All wins Super Tuesday, even if its most loyal candidates did not. The stock market – especially healthcare stocks – freaked over Sanders’s rise, and then stabilized after Biden’s comeback. Profits safe! Gillian Mason, Director of Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, talks about giving power back to workers with Medicare for All. Elizabeth Warren’s…

Joe Biden wins his first, and so far only, primary with the help of Medicare for All supporters. Trump’s team doesn’t believe in the coronavirus, but if it does exist, Medicare for All would make it worse (?!?). Centrist policy experts trash the Yale Medicare for All study and then trash the entire policy of…

Nevada’s largest and most influential union bucks leadership to support Medicare for All; new study from Yale economists is added to the extensive body of research arguing Medicare for All would save lives and billions of dollars; Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar’s healthcare plans finally receive some scrutiny, thanks to Elizabeth Warren Show Notes The…

National Nurses United and partners launch a new campaign to expose and fight back against industry influence in the Medicare for All debate, inspired by the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge led by Sunrise and other climate change organizations. We’ll tell you how to get involved. The Nevada Culinary Union has come out hard against…

Donald Trump’s State of the Union address includes some good old fashioned red-baiting re: Medicare for All. Centrist Democrats vying for the party’s nomination pile on, albeit from different angles, at the New Hampshire debate. Parasite wins big at the Oscars!! Show Notes Ben dedicates the show to everyone who needs healthcare. Stephanie would like…