Iowa: Medicare for All Battleground
PACs are advertising in Iowa not only for candidates - but also against Medicare for All. Listen in on some of the ads and break them down with us. Also - an update on where California is on establishing a state single payer healthcare system.
Show Notes
This week Stephanie would like to exempt Michael Bloomberg from our Medicare for All plan, after he was shoe-horned into the Democratic debates, because of... he's rich.
The Iowa caucuses are underway as Ben & Stephanie are recording, and they take a look at the ads the Partnership for America's Healthcare Future (PAHCF) are running in Iowa and other primary states to attack Medicare for All.
Listen here to the PAHCF ad called "Same Thing," which claims that a public option and Medicare for All are the SAME THING. Weird? What are the goals of the healthcare industry in conflating a public option and Medicare for All? Ben & Stephanie highlight how this undermines the claim that a public option is more politically feasible than Medicare for All.
Things get even stranger in the world of Medicare for All campaign ads. We break down a campaign ad run by Kansas State Senator Susan Wagle attacking Barbara Bollier, who are both running for U.S. Senate in Kansas; as well as an ad by Better Future Michigan attacking Gary Peters for supporting Medicare for All. What makes these ads truly insane, beyond trying to paint a picture of a dystopian future under universal healthcare? Neither Barbara Bollier nor Gary Peters actually support Medicare for All!
Finally, Ben & Stephanie briefly discuss the newly created "Healthy California for All Commission," which had its first meeting on January 27 to develop a plan for a single-payer healthcare system. You can see the Commission's mandate and all of its meetings here. A similar Commission is being created in Oregon - both are the results of organizing by the Medicare for All movement!
Follow & Support the Pod!
You can listen to Medicare for All on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or visit our website here.
Please donate to the Healthcare-NOW Education Fund to support the podcast!