Medicare For All Statewide Forum

On Saturday August 17, Medicare for All Connecticut hosted a statewide forum.

The program featured five presentations:

Bishop John Selders, Senior Pastor of Amistad United Church of Christ and founder of Moral Monday CT, opened the meeting with a rousing call to action that emphasized the moral underpinning of the Medicare for All cause: health care is a human right!

Sheridan Aspinwall, a nurse at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who is active with the Boston chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), spoke about the five core principles of the DSA Medicare for All organizing campaign.

Prof. Robert Pollin of the Political Economy Research Institute at U Mass, discussed the findings of his study, Economic Analysis of Medicare for All.  The study found that Medicare for All could reduce total health care spending by nearly 10 percent, while “creating stable access to quality care for all US residents.”

Richard Eskow, a writer and senior advisor for Social Security Works, gave a presentation entitled, “What Are We Up Against”.  He focused on the messaging and policy controversies that surround Medicare for All and argued against supporting less comprehensive approaches.

The final presentation was by Joanna Heller, an activist with Medicare for All Connecticut, who outlined the provisions in the two Medicare for All bills in Congress:  S 1129 and HR 1384.

The program ended with a focus on action.  Attendees divided into small groups by congressional district.  Each group discussed how to get more members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation to become co-sponsors of the Medicare for All bills in their respective legislative chambers, as only Sen. Blumenthal and Rep. Jahana Hayes have signed on so far.

A video of the full program is posted on the Medicare For All CT Facebook page.