Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1399555
Medicare for All — Guaranteed Health Care Universal Health Care Based on a Single Standard of Quality Care for All Nurses are acutely aware, from our work at the bedside, that today's health care system fails to provide quality health care as a right to all people living in the United States. That's why RNs from CNA/NNU are helping to build a powerful grass- roots movement to transform the current system by winning expanded, improved, Medicare for All. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed in 2010, made history by expanding health insurance to millions of Americans for the first time, but by 2019 nearly 30 million Americans remained uninsured, and at least 40 million more could not afford the costs of their copays and deductibles. Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, at least 15 million more Americans have lost their employer-based health care. The quality of our health care shockingly lags behind other industrialized countries in such crit- ical health outcomes as life expectancy, infant and maternal mortality, and preventable deaths from diseases. Yet the United States spends more money per capita on health care than any other industrial- ized nation. We waste hundreds of billions of dollars every year on unnecessary administrative costs, while health care industry executives measure suc- cess in profits, instead of patient care. Nurses know it is time to remove the profit motive in health care, to resolve the inefficiencies, and to guarantee quality, therapeutic health care to every person living in the United States. We are organiz- ing with our neighbors in communities across the nation to urge our representatives in Congress to support Medicare for All legislation. We've held hundreds of Medicare for All barnstorms and town- halls, knocked on doors, and canvassed farmers' markets and other public events from coast to coast. This grassroots work has resulted in an ever grow- ing list of elected officials who support Medicare for All, including a majority of legislators chairing committees that are key to the legislation's success. How Medicare For All Legislation Works » Eliminates health insurance premiums and high deductibles. » It's universal. Everybody is covered, even when changing or losing a job. » Provides comprehensive benefits including pre- scription drugs, dental, vision, hospitalization, and doctor visits. » Provides long-term services and supports for seniors and people with disabilities through home and community-based services unless the individual chooses otherwise. » Allows complete freedom to choose your own doctor and other health care providers. » Preserves the ability of veterans to receive their medical benefits and services through the Vet- erans Administration, and of Native Americans to receive their medical benefits and services through the Indian Health Service. » The Medicare for All program would provide global budgets to all institutional providers to help contain the exorbitant costs present in the system today. Why Improved and Expanded Medicare for All is the Best System for Working People » Eliminates "cost-shifting" from employers to employees. » Maintains health benefits for working people who strike or suffer on-the-job injuries or long-term illness. » With health insurance no longer tied to employ- ment, unions can focus on improving wages, pensions, and working conditions. » Ends the competitive disadvantage American businesses face competing in a global market with countries that have national health care systems. » The legislation provides funding to help com- mercial insurance industry workers transition to other employment. Join with nurses from around the nation to win Medicare for All by visiting: www.Medicare4all.org. Patient Advocacy— Our Guiding Principle Social Advocacy 39