Hillary's statement about Medicare's 50th birthday isn't good enough...
It isn't enough to simply "defend" Medicare. It isn't good enough to vow to "protect" Medicare against Republican efforts to privatize it and turn it into a voucher program. The position held by President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and other establishment Democrats is just a band-aid solution to a festering wound. Even under the Affordable Care Act, over 30 million Americans remain uninsured or underinsured. Medical bankruptcies will continue to plague many, many Americans who can afford to purchase health insurance but can't afford to use it. Pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. can still charge sky high prices for prescription drugs with impunity, screwing the American public in the process.
The best way to celebrate Medicare's 50th birthday is to not only protect it, but to expand it. We need to expand Medicare to every American under a single-payer, national health insurance system. The Affordable Care Act, while a step in the right direction doesn't go nearly far enough. Medicare-for-all is the only way to cover everyone while substantially controlling healthcare costs. Through a government-financed program, we can guarantee healthcare to every American as a right instead of having it merely be a privilege to those who can afford it.
The AFL-CIO even made single-payer part of its policy agenda. And Bernie Sanders is the only POTUS candidate vowing to fight for single-payer healthcare.
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