This week’s 5-minute action to support Medicare for All (please continue reading this week’s post below):
- Are you in NC? Please sign our letter to our Congressional delegation asking them to pass the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act for the health of people in our state. https://www.ncm4a.org/campaign
- The NC Medicare for All Coalition has a collection of Resources (not just for North Carolina!) to help you better understand M4A and the problems in the current system. These resources are well-researched by partner organizations in the Coalition. www.ncm4a.org/resources
Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, our country was facing a health care crisis, with an estimated 87 million people uninsured or underinsured. Our for-profit healthcare system (the only one in the developed world), is costly and inadequate, leaving many people unable to get the care they need or struggling under the weight of medical debt. Now, tens of millions of people are losing their jobs and their health insurance at the same time, leaving them unprotected during a public health crisis. To safely reopen the economy, we must have a public health protocol that includes expanded free testing, contact tracing, trend tracking, and full access to treatment without fear of costs.
The Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act, introduced in the US House of Representatives and US Senate, would empower Medicare to pay for all health care costs through the pandemic for all uninsured people and would cover out of pocket costs for those who have insurance.
If all residents in North Carolina have full access to care when they are sick, without cost at point of service, they are less likely to delay treatment. Full access to healthcare would eliminate the uncompensated care costs forcing so many rural hospitals to close their doors. If we are ever going to contain COVID-19, the first step is to ensure people know whether they are ill with the disease. The federal government must eliminate cost barriers to care by passing the immediate relief of the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act and in the long-term Improved Medicare for All! Sign on now: www.ncm4a.org/campaign.
Join our work: www.ncm4a.org/form
Attend our next town hall: www.ncm4a.org/medicare_101