As the national health care debate
rages on, Seattle has
decided to support Medicare-for-all.
Last month, Seattle Rep. Pramila Jayapal introduced
a bill, the Medicare for All Act of 2019, that would transition Americans to
single-payer government-paid health care but does not explain how the
government will pay for the plan.
This week, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan signed a
City Council resolution in support of Jayapal’s bill, making Seattle the first
city to back a Medicare-for-all bill.
“The U.S. has among the worst health outcomes in the developed
world despite spending roughly 19 percent of our nation’s gross domestic
product (GDP) on health care,” Seattle Council Member M. Lorena Gonzálezsaid
in a statement. “A single-payer system would improve health outcomes while
lowering the cost of medical care and insurance.”
In the 2016 election, Sen. Bernie Sanders ran on universal
health care and this election cycle many more Democrats, including Sen. Kamala
Harris and Elizabeth Warren, are supporting the concept.
Jayapal’s would be the first Medicare-for-all bill to receive a
hearing in Congress.
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