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Why Don’t We Treat Health Care as a Human Right?

Isn’t it time we started providing quality care to all Americans?

The Nation

November 27, 2018

Why don’t we treat health care as a human right? In 1965 we created Medicare and Medicaid to ensure health care for the elderly and the poor. Today, the government provides health care for over 100 million Americans—that’s 38 percent of the country!

But these programs aren’t good for health insurance and drug companies’ profits. So they’ve fought against expanding public health care tooth and nail, leaving 41 million underinsured, and 27 million Americans without any insurance at all.

It gets worse: People without health insurance are 40 percent more likely to die than those who are covered, and health-care costs remain the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States.

But now, we have a plan.

Medicare for All would expand public health care to all Americans. By taking the price-setting out of the hands of insurance companies, we can drastically reduce administrative overhead, and cut down on the cost of prescription drugs and hospital stays.

For you that means no more co-pays, no more deductibles, no more out-of-network fees.

Whatever these savings don’t cover we could pay for by taxing capital gains fairly and closing other loopholes used by the ultra-rich.

Isn’t it time we start providing quality care to all Americans? Together we can make health care a human right.

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