‘Historic’ Step in Fight for Universal Healthcare: Over 60 House Democrats to Launch Medicare for All Caucus
(COMMON DREAMS) Jake Johnson, July 18, 2018 — Building on the rapidly growing wave of support for Medicare for All at the grassroots and on Capitol Hill, more than 60 House Democrats are forming an official Medicare for All Caucus with the goal of closely examining specific policy components of single-payer and seriously discussing the steps necessary to implement it in the United States.
“This is another sign that we are winning the fight for Medicare for All! And it wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of grassroots activists that door-knock, phone-bank, and table in their communities every day.”
—Bonnie Castillo, National Nurses United“This is a sea change from just four or five years ago and people are more likely to see healthcare as a right,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told ViceNews, which first reported on the formation of the caucus on Wednesday.
Jayapal will join Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), National Nurses United (NNU), and other progressive groups to officially launch the caucus with an announcement Thursday morning. While just over 60 Democrats will be part of the caucus on day one, that number is expected to grow quickly over the next several weeks.
“This is another sign that we are winning the fight for Medicare for All!” NNU executive director Bonnie Castillo declared in a tweet on Wednesday. “And it wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of grassroots activists that door-knock, phone-bank and table in their communities every day. This fight, like many others, will be won in our own neighborhoods.”
“Every day more Americans are rallying behind the need for fundamental reform of our flawed and fragmented healthcare system that denies care to millions of our neighbors and family members,” NNU co-president Deborah Burger, RN, added in a statement. “With polls showing increasing support for Medicare for all, and new signs every day of a system that is out of control, the formation of this congressional caucus could not be more timely.”