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A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 2 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 9 NATIONAL N urses across the country applauded the reintroduction of Medicare for All legislation in the U.S. Senate in May. National Nurses United (NNU) has long supported Medicare for All because health care is a human right. NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, testified at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on May 12 that Covid-19's impacts on health care are evidence that Medicare for All is necessary now more than ever. The hearing was chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who also introduced the new Medicare for All Senate bill later that day. Sanders was joined by 14 Senate colleagues as cosponsors. "For more than two years, nurses across the country have worked on the front lines of the Covid pandemic," Castillo said at the hearing. "We have cared for patients despite atrocious working conditions. If it was ever in doubt before, this pandemic has shown that our current profit-driven and frag- mented health care system does not work. It does not provide quality, therapeutic care to millions of Americans. It does not value and protect its own health care workers. And it is unable to provide a comprehensive pan- demic response." "As registered nurses, our primary responsibility is to protect the health and well-being of our patients," Castillo told the Senate Budget Committee. "Medicare for All is the solution we need to ensure that every patient gets the health care they need." "The American people understand, as I do, that health care is a human right, not a privilege and that we must end the interna- tional embarrassment of the United States being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all of its citizens," said Sen. Sanders. "It is not accept- able to me, nor to the American people, that over 70 million people today are either uninsured or underinsured. As we speak, there are millions of people who would like to go to a doctor but cannot afford to do so. This is an outrage. In America, your health and your longevity should not be dependent on your wealth. Health care is a human right that all Americans, regardless of income, are entitled to and they deserve the best health care that our country can provide." The new legislation introduced by Sen. Sanders is another step forward for the movement behind Medicare for All. Castillo was joined by other movement leaders on a panel at the hearing, and NNU continues to uplift the movement that made the future of Medicare for All possible. NNU has been excited to see momentum for Medicare for All building at the grass- roots level and in the House of Representatives, where a Medicare for All bill currently has 121 cosponsors. NNU hopes to see that same momentum continue in the U.S. Senate. —Staff report RNs applaud reintroduction of Senate Medicare for All legislation