I cannot believe I am saying this as a Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren supporter. I have been scoping Andrew Yang for some time now and there’s something he brings no one else brings.
Andrew Yang’s closing statement was profound. Most importantly is what he said before he started.
Andrew Yang does belong on the stage (Funny but prescient)
As an engineer, I share an affinity with Yang numbers-based approach. In fact, he wears a math pin on his collar. One may think that because he does not straight out support Medicare For All that Medicare for All proponents will not give him a hearing. That is not the case because what we are looking for is a humane outcome not only in healthcare but in every socio-economic-justice case.
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His paper “A New Way Forward For Healthcare In America” is an important and comprehensive read on healthcare.” While he does not support Bernie Sanders’ version of Medicare for All, after reading his paper, I see symbiosis.
To be clear, I support the spirit of Medicare for All, and have since the first day of this campaign. I do believe that swiftly reformatting 18% of our economy and eliminating private insurance for millions of Americans is not a realistic strategy, so we need to provide a new way forward on healthcare for all Americans.1
As Democrats, we all believe in healthcare as a human right. We all want to make sure there is universal affordable coverage. We know we have a broken healthcare system where Americans spend more money on healthcare to worse results. But, we are spending too much time fighting over the differences between Medicare for All, “Medicare for All Who Want It,” and ACA expansion when we should be focusing on the biggest problems that are driving up costs and taking lives.
We need to be laser focused on how to bring the costs of coverage down by solving the root problems plaguing the American healthcare system.
That means controlling the cost of prescription drugs. That means investing in innovative technology to cut waste and boost access. That means changing the incentive structure for providers. That means shifting our focus on more stages of care. That means revamping what comprehensive care means in the 21st century to include crucial aspects of wellbeing. That means taking on the powerful lobbyists in D.C.
Diagnosing and addressing these underlying problems is the first and most important step in ensuring everyone has access to healthcare, because we cannot extend quality coverage to everyone without real strategies on how to avoid the toxic incentives of our current system. We can’t afford to mess this up.
I decided to spend some time at Andrew Yang’s website. To be clear, I am just starting. Suffice it to say, I like what I see. He has joined Sanders and Warren as candidates I can live with and trust to carry the progressive message.