Health Care is a Human Right and a Public Good

Our current healthcare system is driven by profit and governed by insurance and pharmaceutical companies, rather than by the people. In calling for Medicare for All we are fighting to shift power away from insurance and drug corporations, move health care resources into the public sphere (and people into public coverage), increase community control, and combat racial, national, and gender exclusion. Fighting for universal health care allows us to put corporate power, commodification, immigrant exclusion, and racial and gender inequity at the center of the debate.

We believe that health care should be:

• In public hands
• Driven by our health, not profits
• Simple, universal, and available
• Fully resourced
• Inclusive and comprehensive (including medicines, medical equipment, vision/dental/hearing care, reproductive care, mental health care, harm reduction and treatment for substance misuse, preventive and long-term care, and homecare)
• Equitable across race, gender, ability, and region
• Inclusive of care for the people who care for us

Under Medicare for All:

• Health care will be financed in a way that benefits us. We all pay into a system that is managed by one entity. Instead of lining the pockets of insurance company executives or funding company advertising, our money goes where it should: toward our health care.
• We all participate in the decisions that affect our health. Medicare for All takes the power from insurance companies and puts it in our hands and the hands of our democratically elected representatives. Insurance companies would not be allowed to determine how much we pay for health care services and which services we can get.
• Everyone receives quality health care. A universal health care system guarantees universal coverage. There are no more financial barriers. This promotes equality and equity in our health care system, meaning everyone has a fair shot at being healthy.
• We will have freedom of choice in our health care. There will no longer be doctor’s offices that don’t take your insurance. You can choose which doctor you see or which hospital you go to.

 

To join our fight for universal and high-quality health care, become a member of your local co-op!