You Can Advocate for Universal Healthcare Anywhere, Anytime!
Millions of Dollars Are Invested in Deceiving Americans About Medicare for All, But We Have Millions of People!
Try these out in the grocery store checkout line, on the phone with insurance companies, and with family and friends. Let us know what you have found is effective and we can build this list!
- Do you know what Medicare for All is? Right now, Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors, is extremely popular and successful at holding down healthcare costs. Medicare for All will improve that, by eliminating out-of-pocket payments and including dental, hearing, vision, and prescription drugs, and expanding it to cover everyone. And you’ll have complete freedom to choose your doctors and hospitals. We’ll pay for it with public dollars; the same way public dollars were used to fund multinational corporations through the pandemic. This is something that would actually protect Americans.
- Do you know that we’re paying twice as much per capita for healthcare as any other modern country? And that many of our health outcomes and life expectancy are worse than theirs? Do you know that 30 cents of every healthcare dollar is spent on administrative overhead? Only Medicare for All can lower overall healthcare spending, and save money for most businesses and households, while providing everyone with dependable coverage and free choice of private doctors and hospitals.
- Medicare for All is the only genuine solution for our healthcare problems. Just strengthening the ACA (Obamacare) cannot get rid of all the waste in our current system, in which we’re spending 30 cents of every healthcare dollar on administrative overhead. Nor would a public option eliminate this waste. Only a single-payer system,where public dollars are used to pay private doctors and hospitals, can do this. Ninety-five percent of us would pay less than we do now, for complete coverage, and complete freedom to choose our doctors and hospitals. It’s the only way to go.
- Do you know anyone on Medicare who would choose to go back to their previous health insurance plan? You hear about people not wanting to give up their current plan, but they probably don’t realize how high their deductibles and out-of-pocket spending will be when they need care. Medicare for All would cover everyone's medical necessities, with complete freedom to choose our doctors and hospitals. It would be the last insurance change anyone would have to make.
- You may think you want to keep your present job-related insurance plan, but what if you get laid off, or the company closes? What if you want to start a business, but can’t afford insurance? With Medicare for All, you wouldn’t be stuck in a job you don’t like, just for health insurance. Nor would you have to put up with high-deductible plans that most workers are being forced into. Both you and your employer would pay less, and get much better benefits. Medicare for All would be the last insurance plan you’d sign up for. And it would be for life.
- You say you like the idea of Medicare for All but that it would be too disruptive? Isn’t it disruptive now if your deductible is so high you can’t afford to get needed care? Isn’t it disruptive now if you lose your insurance because you change jobs, get laid off, or your company closes down? Medicare for All would be very calming and stabilizing, not disruptive. It would bring great order to a chaotic system, provide great health protection and peace of mind.
- Do you know that 2/3 of Americans support Medicare for All, across the political spectrum, including the majority of physicians? They realize that we need a real solution to our healthcare mess, not just tinkering with the ACA (Obamacare). We need to eliminate the middleman insurance companies that stand between you and your care, and are the primary cause of 30 cents of every healthcare dollar to be spent on wasteful administrative overhead. Medicare is popular and efficient. Don’t you agree that everyone should have it, especially in an improved form?
- I know many doctors, including specialists, who say Medicare for All is the best solution to our health insurance mess. Doctors spend too much time now arguing with insurance companies about treatments they recommend. The average doctor spends over $80,000 each year on insurance and billing. Just by simplifying that process with Medicare for All, every doctor would get a substantial raise, and have more time to spend with patients; doing the job they trained for!
- Are you concerned that Medicare for All might give the government too much control in healthcare? Do you think there’s too much government control in Medicare now? It’s the most popular and most efficient healthcare insurance program in the country. I think we should provide an improved Medicare to everyone, and save hundreds of billions of dollars per year compared to the current system.
- You think Medicare for All would be socialized medicine? You know that’s the scare tactic that Reagan and the AMA used against Medicare in the 1960s? Medicare certainly isn’t socialized medicine. Just like it, Medicare for All would use a government agency to pay private doctors and hospitals, saving hundreds of billions of dollars in wasted administrative overhead. What we have now is corporate medicine, with out-of-control costs and unjustifiable profits. It’s not working well for most people. 1 in 3 people are uninsured or underinsured, which means they are delaying and forgoing necessary care.
- Do you believe healthcare is a right or a privilege? Don’t you agree that it’s a necessity, for everyone, at one time or another? Everyone has fire and police protection, and we all pay for roads and schools, as commonsense community benefits. Rather than having restrictive and expensive insurance plans, and desperate efforts to pay for care with GoFundMe campaigns, fragmented charity groups, and bake sales, shouldn’t we all simply have health insurance, like we have other protections? Medicare for All can provide that, and save money.
- My doctor says he/she went into medicine to help their patients, not drive them into bankruptcy. A majority of Americans who file for bankruptcy do so because of medical bills, and most of them have some form of health insurance. Doctors would be happier if they didn’t have to worry whether their patients could afford the treatments they recommend, and patients would certainly be better off with dependable, comprehensive health insurance. Medicare for All can do this.
- So you like the idea of Medicare for All but don’t believe it’s politically possible? That’s what people used to say about other big issues, like slavery, women’s suffrage, civil rights, and LGBTQ equality. If enough people like you care, and share your feelings with others, including elected officials, we can get there. It’s a bold idea for the US corporate-controlled Congress, but only Medicare for All can solve our really big healthcare problems. Write letters to newspapers, talk to your social groups, tell your employer how it would help his/her business, call your representatives, and demand Medicare for All as the best solution for our country.
- Do you know someone who has delayed medical care because of cost? About one-third of Americans do so each year. Many people dangerously ration their own medicines because they can’t afford them. Don’t you think this is ridiculous in America? If your house catches on fire, you don’t worry about paying someone to put it out. Why should it be different if you get sick or injured? Is a house really more worthy than human lives? Medicare for All can give all Americans the healthcare they need and peace of mind they deserve, and save nearly everyone money in the process.
- Some people fear that Medicare for All would cost too much, and would wreck our economy. Did you know that every study, even including one done by the Libertarian(Koch brothers funded) think tank Mercatus Center, shows that Medicare for All will cost less than what we’re spending now? Only by controlling wasted administrative overhead, which accounts for 1/3 of all healthcare spending, and lowering drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices, can we take control of rising healthcare costs. Only Medicare for All can do this.
- Have you heard that taxes to fund Medicare for All will be prohibitive or wreck the economy? Did you also hear that, if you make under $400,000/yr, any taxes you’ll pay will be less than what you’re currently spending in total for healthcare? And that Medicare for All will cover things your current insurance doesn’t, like prescriptions, dental, and long-term care, among others? This is possible because Medicare for All will eliminate the administrative waste caused by having hundreds of insurance companies standing between you and your healthcare. It’s the only way to go.
- Have you heard that Medicare for All will lead to rationing and long waiting times? Did you know there’s no evidence for that; that it’s just a scare tactic by those who might lose money, like insurance and drug companies? Stories they tell about rationing and waiting times misrepresent the truth. The truth is that the wealthiest country in the world can easily afford good healthcare for everyone. By taking the money we’re now wasting on administrative overhead and unjustifiable drug prices, we can provide timely needed care to everyone. Let’s get the insurance companies out from between you and your care!
- Are you concerned that if healthcare is free, people will abuse the system? Do you understand that it won’t be free, any more than schools, police, and fire departments are free? We all pay for them, and just use them when we need them. It will be the same with Medicare for All. People don’t go to the doctor for fun, and too many people now don’t go when they should because they can’t afford to. That’s costing us more in the long run, and causing unnecessary suffering and lost productivity.