Check this out: Insurance rates rose at a much higher rate in the 8 years before the ACA than in the 8 years after the ACA. Which means that insurance rates are rising… but they’re rising slower under the ACA. Now one thing we can all agree on is that they shouldn’t be rising at all.  

 

So where we should be looking when revising our healthcare stance is in what way the profit motive affects the performance of our care. After I was given a terminal diagnosis, my life was saved by not-for-profit medicine. Doctors working for better outcomes not increased incomes. And that’s no coincidence. Our current system encourages insurers and pharmaceutical companies to leverage care into cash. Good healthcare can be profitable. But it can’t be profit-driven.

 

So take out the profit manipulation by allowing a democratic government to bundle the market: Open the single payer in Medicare to everyone. 

 

That’s a system that lowers the costs of coverage through collective purchasing power while easing the burden of insurance from big companies, small businesses and families.

 

Everybody wins. Even Do Nothing Erik Paulsen. And here’s the best part, Erik… you don’t have to do anything! Just get out of the way.

 

Get out of the way of 325 million Americans contributing to the same pool. Purchasing power like that means that medical production becomes more consistent and lower rates become more manageable. The power to negotiate lower costs lies with the people.

 

Get out of the way of small businesses and Unions who will no longer be saddled with part-time work limitations once democracy handles their employees' healthcare. That drives consumer costs down and helps to even the playing field between small business and corporate America. Not to mention that better healthcare means fewer sick days means higher productivity.

 

And get out of the way of would-be entrepreneurs, who are now anchored to their corporate jobs and the healthcare systems those jobs provide. With a Medicare for All system many of our neighbors would be free to follow their dreams, open their businesses and create local-level employment and larger level growth.

 

There is no moral solvency that does not include these three words: Healthcare. For. Everyone. That’s our message. Medicare for All is our solution.

 

Let’s do something.