House Reintroduces Medicare for All with Record Support - IFPTE Sec.-Treas. Matt Biggs Delivers IFPTE Support Health Care as a Right

IFPTE joins the chorus of support for Rep. Pramilia Jayapal's (D-WA) reintroduction of the Medicare for All Act, H.R. 1976, with more original cosponsors than ever before. With Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) as the leading co-sponsor, the support for this bill includes 14 House committee chairs. House Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ), a new cosponsor, is planning on holding a hearing on the bill in his committee.

IFPTE's long-standing advocacy for this bill is predicated on IFPTE Convention resolutions since 1992 that call for a single-payer universal health care system in the U.S. Through the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, IFPTE joins with other unions to ensure working families' interests and concerns are addressed in legislative efforts to achieve a single-payer health care system.

Just before the reintroduction of the bill, IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer Matt Biggs spoke at a socially-distanced rally in front of Capitol Hill in support of the bill. Biggs talked about IFPTE members in Canada receiving medical care under Canadian national health insurance and how making health care a right for all takes it off the bargaining table so workers aren't sacrificing wages to maintain health benefits. Biggs also noted rising costs of health care hurt employers and pointed to this bill seeking to fulfill President Franklin Roosevelt's call for universal health care in the second bill of rights in 1944.

IFPTE President Paul Shearon shared the following comments in Rep. Jayapal's press statement :

The costs of our current health care system remain unsustainable for too many working families, for seniors, and for employers. IFPTE applauds Rep. Jayapal, Rep. Dingell, and the cosponsors of the Medicare for All Act of 2021 for proposing a solution that will benefit all Americans by ensuring that all Americans are guaranteed high quality comprehensive health care as a right. Medicare for All would end the drag that rising health care costs have on our union members’ wages and benefits, while advancing health justice and equity for all workers.

The current bill expands the existing Medicare system to offer the following services without insurance premiums, deductibles, copays, or fees at the point-of-service:

  • all primary care

  • hospital and outpatient services

  • dental care, vision care, audiology health services

  • women’s reproductive health services,

  • maternity and newborn care,

  • long-term services and supports,

  • prescription drugs,

  • mental health and substance abuse treatment,

  • laboratory and diagnostic services,

  • ambulatory services

  • freedom to choose any qualified doctors, hospitals, and health care providers as Medicare for All creates one national "in-network" system

The legislation preserves service members’ and veterans’ ability to receive services through the VA and TRICARE, and maintains access to the Indian Health Service for Native Americans. It also establishes an Office of Health Equity within the Department of Health and Human Services, and includes worker assistance and a just transition for impacted workers.

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Faraz KhanHealthcare, Public Policy