‘Our system is in dire straits’: progressive Democrats hold Medicare for All hearing

Members of National Nurses United rally with lawmakers to show their support for the Medicare for All Act on Capitol Hill in April last year. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Members of National Nurses United rally with lawmakers to show their support for the Medicare for All Act on Capitol Hill in April last year. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images ‘Our system is in dire straits’: progressive Democrats hold Medicare for All hearing Congressional Progressive caucus say ‘healthcare should not be a privilege’ as they champions single payer system The Congressional Progressive caucus (CPC) held a shadow hearing on Medicare for All on Wednesday, led by Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell. The hearing comes as over half of the House Democratic caucus has co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation, and Senator Andy Kim introduced legislation on Tuesday that would enroll all children into Medicare until the age of 26, while Republicans passed drastic healthcare cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including nearly $1n in cuts to Medicaid and allowing Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire. “I’m going to get this over the finish line before I die, and I don’t plan on dying soon. But I’d like to get it done,” Dingell said in an opening statement, citing her father-in-law, John D Dingell Sr, who drafted the universal healthcare legislation that laid the foundation for Medicare, and her late husband, John Dingell, who frequently introduced Medicare for All legislation in his decades-long career in Congress. “We spend twice as much per person on healthcare compared to other countries that have systems like Medicare for All, and we still have 28 million Americans without insurance, and an increase in the number of people uninsured since 2023,” she said. “We have worse outcomes, including low life expectancy and higher infant mortality rates. The only people benefiting are the corporations who are profiting while Americans are struggling.” JD Vance threatens health funding to states that don’t comply with White House anti-fraud effort Read more National Nurses United, the largest union of nurses in the US, testified in support of Medicare for All, along with Public Citizen, Physicians for a National Health Plan, People’s Action Institute and other supporters of the policy. A study by Yale epidemiologists in 2020 found Medicare for All would save about 68,000 lives a year and about 13% in reducing US healthcare spending, about $450bn. “I do not exaggerate when I say our healthcare system is in dire straits. Every day in my clinic, I see patients struggling with the cost of healthcare,” said Dr Diljeet K Singh, president of Physicians for a National Health Plan, in her testimony at the hearing. “At least 35 cents of every healthcare dollar is wasted on insurance administration and corporate profit, not spent on patient care.” Jamie Brown RN, president of National Nurses United, described in her testimony the impact of h