First Medicare for All hearing in the House confirms 'Health care is a right for all'

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/5/1/1854450/-First-Medicare-for-All-hearing-in-the-House-confirms-Health-care-is-a-right-for-all

First Medicare for All hearing in the House confirms 'Health care is a right for all'
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Wednesday May 01, 2019 · 9:14 AM EDT

Ady Barkan testifies before the House Rules Committee on Medicare for All.


For the first time, the House of Representatives had a hearing on legislation to enact a singer-payer model of health care in the United States, Rep. Pramila Jayapal's Medicare for All bill. Opening the hearing, House Rules Committee Chairman Rep. Jim McGovern declared the theme driving the hearing, and driving the Democrats' 2020 election priorities: "Health care is a right for all, not a privilege for the lucky few."

The center of the hearing, the heart of it, was testimony from 35-year-old Ady Barkan, an advocate and activist who is dying of ALS. He used an electronic voice to describe his experience fighting the system just to stay alive. "The ugly truth is this: Health care is not treated as a human right in the United States of America," he told the committee. "On the day we are born and on the day we die, and on so many days in between, all of us need medical care. And yet in this country, the wealthiest in the history of human civilization, we do not have an effective or fair or rational system for delivering that care." His own out-of-pocket medical costs, not covered by insurance, are $9,000 a month, paid for through GoFundMe campaigns and assistance from friends and family, which, as he said, "is a terrible substitute for smart Congressional action."

Universal health care as a right was not the unanimous theme of the day, with Republicans arguing that the bill is "radical," as Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma said, and that it would force people to give up the private health insurance they love. Because, boy, does everybody love dealing with their health insurance company. This is clearly Republicans attempting to set up yet another "gotcha" akin to the "You can keep your doctor" brouhaha of the Obama administration.

But on the whole, the hearing was remarkably civil, remarkably informative. Barkan's presence was probably largely why. Even Republicans couldn't look him in the eye, listen to his digital voice, and hear his story and not be affected. This was the first hearing, however, and likely to be the only one Barkan will be able to attend, because getting to Washington from his home California was a massive ordeal. The next hearing will be in the Ways and Means Committee, its Chairman Richard Neal has pledged, though it has not been scheduled yet.

You can read Barkan's opening statement here and watch it below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=TSH_tUKq7Jc



https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/30/im-dying-als-and-heres-my-message-no-more-half-measures-only-medicare-all
Published on Tuesday, April 30, 2019
by Common Dreams
I'm Dying From ALS and Here's My Message: No More Half Measures. Only Medicare for All

[area51]

1. Please support

comprehensive Medicare for All, and ask Speaker Pelosi to support it also.