Single-payer healthcare

Perhaps nowhere do we see the devastating effects of widening inequality than in the statistics about the American healthcare system, which has become the most expensive in the world even as the U.S. experiences the longest sustained decline in expected life span in a century. Medical bills are the single largest cause of consumer bankruptcy.

In 1994, San Francisco voted in favor of Prop 186, an initiative that would have created a California single-payer, universal health insurance. Today, 70% of Americans support Medicare-for-All¹, and yet, Representative Pelosi has still never signed on to such a plan.

The greatest beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act have been insurance companies. The U.S. is one of the few developed nations without universal healthcare.² A University of Washington study shows the U.S. ranking for healthcare has dropped from 6th in the world in 1990, to 27th today. The study concluded that investments in education and healthcare are tied to a country’s economic performance, and improvements in these areas could lead to faster economic growth. Americans agree, but our representatives aren’t getting the message.

Voters have made their preferences clear. Now, it is time for our Congress to stop representing big money and corporate interests, and start representing the people. In California’s 12^th District this starts with Medicare-for-all and lower pharmaceutical drug prices, ensuring all Americans of all backgrounds have the healthcare they deserve.