2.2 Million Petition Signatures Demanding Medicare for All Hit Capitol Hill
The People Demand a Reliable, Affordable Health Care System, and a Plan Is Here
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, a diverse group of organizations delivered more than 2.2 million petition signatures in support of Medicare for All to the U.S. House of Representatives, signaling growing strength and momentum around the movement.
Groups that collected signatures include Public Citizen, Be a Hero, Business for Medicare for All, CREDO Action, CPD Action, Daily Kos, Democracy for America, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Justice Democrats, League of United Latin American Citizens, MoveOn, Our Revolution, People’s Action, Physicians for a National Health Program, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Progressive Democrats of America and Social Security Works.
The groups started by delivering the message of support from the 2.2 million signatories to U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) before heading to deliver petitions to other representatives, including Reps. Darren Soto (D-N.J.), Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) and Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa), urging them to co-sponsor the bill, which currently has 119 co-sponsors.
A Medicare for All system would reduce administrative costs by $500 billion per year and would cost patients less than employer-sponsored insurance. The proposal also would do away with out-of-pocket costs, such as copays and deductibles, provide for dental care and cover long-term care, including home health care. The legislation also would allow the national insurance program to negotiate to drastically reduce the price of health care, including prescription drugs.
Representatives from the organizations shared why their members responded in such large numbers to support Medicare for All:
“Today’s 2.2 million petition signatures are reflective of what we’re seeing at the grassroots level through efforts to win city and county council resolutions in support of Medicare for All. As this campaign continues to gain steam, we expect to see more and more boxes of signatures from Americans demanding guaranteed health care for all.”
– Melinda St. Louis, director, Public Citizen’s Medicare for All campaign
“Affordable, quality health care for all is essential to create an America where everyone can thrive. We applaud the progressive leaders in Congress who support Medicare for All and are working on big ideas to reimagine our health care system. It is time for Republicans to join the conversation about solutions and stop attacking the protections currently in place under the Affordable Care Act.”
– Emma Einhorn, campaign director, MoveOn
“Race and wealth shape who lives and dies in our country, and corporate greed keeps health care out of reach for millions of people. We can’t wait. We need Congress to vote for Medicare for All: it’s the best solution to our health care crisis right now.”
– Connie Huynh, Health Care for All Campaign director, People’s Action
“Thousands of business leaders from across the country demand an end to the annual outrage of double-digit premium increases for employers and their workers at the hands of shareholder-driven corporate health insurance companies. There’s only one way to ensure an end to this profiteering stymying American growth and competitiveness: Medicare for All.”
– Wendell Potter, former Cigna vice president and president of Business for Medicare for All
“Medicare for All will guarantee that any savings to employers under the Medicare for All plan must be passed on to their organized workers in the form of additional wages or benefits, strengthening our position at the bargaining table to deliver the union difference for our members.”
– Marti Garza, director, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers – Healthcare
“We need to pass Medicare for All to make sure everyone in the country can go to the doctor without fear of going bankrupt. Medicare for All is a bold plan that is the best and only way to provide reliable health care for everyone without padding the pockets of Big Pharma and Big Insurance CEOs.”
– Heidi Hess, co-director, CREDO Action
“Our members are organizing and pushing other member of Congress to get on board with Medicare for All. Health care is a right, not a privilege, and our members will continue to push for it until we get it over the finish line.”
– Joseph Geevarghese, executive director, Our Revolution
“Our current broken multipayer insurance system wastes over a half trillion dollars – and tens of thousands of lives – every year, because it values the profitability of the insurance industry ahead of patients who need medical care. Congress can choose to perpetuate this system with half measures such as a public option, or it can choose to solve these problems with single-payer Medicare for All.”
– Jay Brock, retired family physician, member of Physicians for a National Health Program
“Imagine if you didn’t have to worry that leaving your job would eliminate your and your family’s health care. That’s why Medicare for All is so critical to giving Americans more freedom and bringing justice to millions of uninsured and uninsured families at a time when insurance and pharmaceutical corporations are making record profits. The 2.2 million signatures for this Medicare for All petition show that Americans desire solutions as big as the problems we face.”
– Alexandra Rojas, executive director, Justice Democrats
“Medicare for All is how we add vision, dental, hearing and, crucially, long-term care to Medicare and then expand it to everyone. Medicare for All is the only way we can guarantee real health care to everyone in this country. No more denials, no more deductibles, no more premiums, just everybody getting the health care they need from whatever doctor or hospital they want to see.”
– Alex Lawson, executive director, Social Security Works