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HEALTHCARE FOR ALL

The Healthcare for All Working Group is made up of medical professionals, labor advocates, and community activists. Our roots are in two respected local organizations, North Bay Jobs with Justice (NBJwJ) and Healthcare Professionals for Equality and Community Empowerment (HPEACE). Based in Sonoma County, our mission is to advocate for meaningful healthcare reform, both in California and across the country. Specifically, we’d like to expand access to care through a single-payer, Medicare-for-All healthcare solution—for our state and the nation. Unlike proposed reforms such as the public option, single-payer would cut out the complexities and profit motives that increase costs while rationing care based on patients’ ability to pay. We’d love to have you join the Healthcare for All Working Group to help decide our priorities and strategies for the future. If you’re interested, email us at HealthcareForAllSonoma@gmail.com

SOME NOT SO FUN FACTS ABOUT OUR CURRENT HEALTHCARE SYSTEM:

  • We pay too much and get too little. The U.S. is the only one of the 33 most highly developed countries that does not offer universal healthcare.

  • One-third of Americans skip care because they can’t afford it.

  • 45,000 people die every year—that averages out to more than 120 deaths a day— because we ration care based on patients’ ability to pay.

WHAT THE ALTERNATIVE COULD LOOK LIKE:

  • Under Senator Sanders’ previous Medicare for All proposal (a 2021 bill hasn’t yet been re-introduced in the Senate), a primary funding mechanisms was a 4% tax on household income greater than $29,000.

  • Households with an annual income of $50,000 would pay about $840 a year. Those making $100,000 would pay $2,840.

  • All medically necessary care would be covered—including long-term care for seniors and the disabled; as well as vision, hearing, and dental care.

  • No more premiums, deductibles, co-payments, or out-of-pocket expenses.

  • About 90% of families would pay less for healthcare than they do now. For the middle class, Medicare for All would be the biggest increase in take-home pay in 40 years.

  • By eliminating out-of-pocket costs, it’s estimated that Medicare for All would increase the income of the poor by about 29%, lifting roughly 8 million people out of poverty. It would be the most effective anti-poverty program in American history.

  • Despite expanding to cover every U.S. resident, Medicare for All will save trillions of dollars over a ten-year period.

  • Some of the savings come from eliminating the complexity and vast overhead of the current system. The administrative costs of current Medicare are about 2%, while for for-profit insurers, that number ranges between 14-28%.

  • Other savings come from the bargaining clout with pharmaceutical companies and medical providers that arise from a single-payer system—and the fact that providers are reimbursed not per procedure, but using annual global budgeting models similar to those used in firefighting.

GET IN TOUCH!

If you’d like the Healthcare for All Working Group to do a tailored presentation for a group you’re part of…or just some friends. Presentations (on Zoom or in person, depending on conditions) usually last for around an hour, including time for Q&A. Email HealthcareForAllSonoma@gmail.com

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