It’s been awhile since my last newsletter article, but I’m back and will bring you updates and politics from the Labor movement every month. Being that we are halfway through May, this issue will be part one on
the need for labor to fight for our healthcare and the need to fight for medicare for all as a major term in US healthcare debate, based on the different political and philosophical opinions.
A century ago the first proposals for government organized sickness insurance spoke of “ social insurance or compulsory insurance”, but it failed to make insurance universal. This idea continued through the enactment of Social Security in 1935, In 1945 Harry Truman became the first president to endorse universal coverage, when his plan failed to pass Congress, the focus was narrowed to the elderly.
In 1990’s single payer had become the choice for American reformers, like Physicians for a National Health Program, who advocated replacing our mix of public and private coverage with one
government insurance program. The model of Medicare for all seeks to establish a national insurance program operated by the federal government, prohibiting private insurance for services covered by the publicly funded government plan. The above is a brief history of the struggle for government run healthcare in America.
Next month I will give you the current state of government healthcare and United States unions part in supporting and hampering it.
Lester Muata Greene, Labor Liaison