One of the biggest hindrances effecting the only health care system that will work in America is that most Americans are unaware that a proven solution already exists. Medicare for All Town Halls like the one held in Houston, Texas will change that.
Medicare for All Town Hall Speech Highlights
Watch and listen to the four speeches by the panelists in their entirety here.
Several Progressive organizations got together to host a Medicare for All Town Hall that served the purpose of educating Americans on the real solution. The Houston Area Progressives, Democratic Socialists of America – Houston, and Our Revolution event was a resounding success. Several hundred Americans from throughout Texas and several states attended.
The featured speaker/panelists in attendance were the following.
- Dr. Stephen Chao – Health Care for All Texas
- Tim Faust – Chapo Trap House
- Alex Lawson – Social Security Works
- Judith Lerma – National Nurses United
The panelists made some prescient points.
“Healthcare as a right is the goal we are fighting for,” said Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works. “We only lose when we forget what we are fighting for.”
Lawson went on to point out some inconvenient truths those promoting the continued broken system do not want you to know.
“How many of you know who pays for the research and development of pharmaceutical drugs?”, Lawson asked. ”
Many in the crowd knew the answer.
“The taxpayer through the NIH and University grants that we give,” Lawson said. “We the people give.”
He then pointed out that the American taxpayer developed the Zika vaccine. Unfortunately, the U.S. government is handing over exclusive rights to the French company Sanofi along with $43 million in welfare to develop the vaccine.
“We pay three times,” Lawson said. “To develop the drug. To grant and protect the patents. And then we pay the highest prices in the world.”
Dr. Stephen Chao, Vice President of Health Care for All Texas illustrated the mess that is the healthcare system in America. He pointed out that while we may pay the most for healthcare in the United States than anywhere else, our outcomes are much worse.
“We are all here to demand SinglePayer Medicare for All, right?” said Judith Lerma of National Nurses United. “We no longer pretend to ask for a share, to beg for crumbs. Now we want the whole thing. We want power. We want control of our lives. We want ‘a world’ that is based on fairness, and justice, and dignity for everyone.”
“We are told Universal Healthcare is a pipe dream,” Tim Faust of Chapo Trap House said. “That capitalist, corporatist domination of our bodies is natural, normal, inescapable, and irreversible. That Single Payer will never ever happen in America. And that’s just the Democrats speaking. Medicare for all is a good rallying cry. It’s a clear vision, and it’s a great framework. Let’s not let that framework get in the way of ambitious policy making. We need Universal Single Payer plans with no lifetime limits, no out of pocket expenses, and easy access for everyone from coast to coast.”
Following the four speeches by the panelists, there was a question and answer period. The Progressive Organizations provided lunch during which they aired the documentary Fix It. Several politicians in local races explained their stances on health care near the end of the event.