Medicare for All: The First Step Toward True Universal Healthcare
Health care in the United States costs more, covers less, and leaves more people behind than anywhere else in the developed world. We pay nearly twice as much per person as other high-income countries, yet tens of millions of Americans remain uninsured or under-insured — one emergency, one diagnosis, or one pink slip away from financial ruin.
Meanwhile, every other major industrialized country — from Canada to Germany to Japan — guarantees health care as a right. They do it with lower costs, better outcomes, and longer life expectancies. Why can’t we?
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
The Problem: Profit Over People
The truth is, we’re the only wealthy nation without universal health care because the industry doesn’t want us to have it. Private insurance companies, pharmaceutical giants, and hospital corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year lobbying Congress and funding campaigns to protect their profits.
These corporations thrive on complexity — on co-pays, surprise bills, and prescription prices that defy logic. Every unnecessary layer of bureaucracy adds cost for patients and profit for someone else.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
The Solution: Start with Medicare for All
We don’t have to start from scratch. We already have a model that works: Medicare. Expanding and improving it for everyone is the most practical, proven path to universal coverage.
Medicare for All would:
-
Guarantee health care for every American, regardless of age or job status.
-
Cut administrative waste — saving hundreds of billions annually.
-
Empower the government to negotiate fair drug prices.
-
Ensure no one goes bankrupt because they got sick.
Countries that get health care right share common traits: strong public systems, price regulation, and investment in preventive care. France regulates medical costs while offering choice of provider. The U.K. prioritizes primary care to keep people healthy before emergencies happen. We can learn from those successes and make them our own.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
The Implementation Path
A realistic transition could begin by lowering the Medicare eligibility age, allowing people to buy in voluntarily, and gradually expanding benefits until everyone is covered.
We can fund it by ending corporate tax loopholes, introducing fair taxes on wealth and Wall Street speculation, and redirecting existing healthcare spending toward care — not profit.
Most importantly, Congress must break free from the stranglehold of industry lobbyists and campaign donations that prioritize shareholders over patients.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************
Why It Matters
Access to healthcare should not depend on your income or employer. It should depend on one thing: your humanity.
I’ve lived the fear of being denied care because I couldn’t afford it. I’ve seen what happens when families are forced to choose between medication and rent. That’s why I’m running for Congress — because I know what it’s like, and I believe we can do better.
America doesn’t need to reinvent compassion — it just needs the courage to act on it.
Medicare for All is how we start. Universal healthcare is where we finish.