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ADA Updates
A single-payer health care system will be heard on the Senate floor. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) filed Senate Amendment No. 2837 with two co-sponsors, Senators Roland Burris (D-IL) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Act Now! A single-payer system would be setup such that one entity—a government run organization—would collect all health care fees, and pay out all health care costs, similar to Medicare. Treatment would be privately administered between doctors and patients. The idea that healthcare is a basic human right that could and should be delivered to each and every person in this nation is not a new one. Our President knows that; our Congress knows that. But the struggle to reform our broken, profit-driven system has carried us a very long way from finally extending that basic human right to all. Health care reform efforts have largely ignored the single-payer solution because the powerful profit-based insurance and health industry interests that stand to gain so much by expanding and entrenching their hold over the system have muted the discussion. That’s why ADA is raising the debate. More than 45,000 people with no coverage at all die every year, millions of Americans file for personal bankruptcy--one every 12 seconds--because medical crisis hit them too hard. And of those bankrupt folks, two-thirds had health insurance. We know it is unlikely Congress will pass a single-payer system this time around. But we also know they can begin setting the benchmarks for what we should do going forward. And with a yes vote on this amendment, Senators send us the message that they heard us, that they will keep fighting with us until the day when this nation no longer leaves the weak, the sick and the poor behind in the delivery of its most basic human rights. We also learn who has the courage to stand up for real reform. Call your Senators now at 202-224-3121. Tell them you want them to vote for Senators Sanders, Burris and Brown’s amendment number 2837 or send this email. View All ADA Updates |