Health Care Is A Human Right
“I’ve spent much of my career learning about families going broke from the high cost of health care. When I’m president of the United States, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that never happens to another person again.” – Elizabeth Warren
Download the Health Care Is A Human Right one-pager.
WHAT THIS PLAN IS ABOUT
The cost of health care is crushing American families, even those with good insurance. Last year:
- 37 million American adults didn’t fill a prescription,
- 36 million people skipped a recommended test, treatment, or follow-up,
- 40 million people didn’t go to a doctor to check out a health problem – all because of costs,
- 57 million people had trouble covering their medical bills, and
- 87 million Americans were either uninsured or underinsured.
An average family of four with employer-sponsored insurance spent $12,378 on employee premiums and out-of-pocket costs in 2018.
Tens of millions of people are one bad diagnosis away from going broke—but they don’t have to be. Elizabeth Warren is the only candidate for president with a comprehensive, effective plan to help as many people as possible, as fast as possible—and get us to Medicare for All.
When Elizabeth is president, everyone in America will be able to see the doctor they need and be covered for vision, dental, hearing, mental health, and more—at little or no cost to them whatsoever.
No more out-of-network costs, no surprises, and no one going broke because they get sick.
Because taking care of our people isn’t up for debate.
On Day One of Elizabeth Warren’s Presidency
- Protect people with pre-existing conditions by defending the Affordable Care Act
- Reverse the Trump administration’s sabotage of our health care system
- Lower costs of key drugs for millions of Americans, including insulin, EpiPens, and HIV drugs
Within the First 100 Days of Elizabeth Warren’s Presidency
- Give everyone the chance to join a high-quality Medicare for All option —completely free for children under 18 and families under double the poverty level (that’s equivalent to making $51,000/year for a family of four.)
- Lower the age of eligibility for Medicare to 50, while improving the program to include dental and vision, long term care, and significantly lower cost sharing. (Currently, you have to be 65 to enroll in Medicare.)
By the end of Elizabeth Warren’s first 100 days as president, we will have opened the door for tens of millions of Americans to get high-quality Medicare coverage at little or no cost to them.
By Year Three of Elizabeth Warren’s Presidency
By her third year, people will have experienced full-health care coverage, and Elizabeth Warren will push Congress to complete the transition to Medicare for All and provide high-quality, free health care for every person in the country. No more out-of-network costs, no surprises, and no one going broke because you get sick.
And every American—regardless of whether they are young or old, poor or rich—will get access to health care that covers:
- Vision
- Hearing
- Dental
- Mental health
- Long-term care
Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare for All plan will put $11 trillion back in the pockets of American families who will never pay another premium or deductible, without raising middle class taxes by one penny.
WHY IT’S NEEDED
When Elizabeth was in middle school, her father had a heart attack. He was out of work for a long time, and the bills piled up. They lost their family station wagon, and they came about an inch away from losing their house.
Later, as a bankruptcy professor, Elizabeth spent decades studying why families go broke. She came to find that one of the top reasons for that is medical problems—even for families with insurance.
So when it comes to health care, it’s not just political talking points for Elizabeth Warren. She knows from her own experience and her career that these costs are hurting families.
Between 2013 and 2016, the number one reason families went broke was still because of health care costs—despite over 90% of families being insured in 2016. Meanwhile, communities of color are disproportionately hurt by our profit-based health care system. Nearly 22% of Native American, 19% Hispanic, and 11% of Black nonelderly individuals were uninsured in 2017. Medicare for All would close these gaps immediately.
We shouldn’t put people’s health in the hands of insurance companies whose goal is to make as much money as possible. In 2018 alone, private insurance companies made $23 billion in profits while premiums skyrocketed and out-of-pocket costs went through the roof.
It’s simple: People shouldn’t have to go bankrupt to get health care.
HOW WOULD WE PAY FOR IT?
Despite what some others may say, middle-class taxes won’t go up — not by one penny — under Elizabeth’s plan.
Here’s how her plan to pay for it works: To cover the cost, we start by taking the money employers are currently required to pay under the Affordable Care Act to private insurance companies and have them pay it toward Medicare instead. The rest of the funding comes from taxes on giant corporations, Wall Street, and the richest 1%; targeted spending cuts; and cracking down on tax evasion and fraud.
Independent economists, including President Obama’s former head of Medicare and Medicaid, the former chief economist at the Department of Labor, and the former chief economist at the IMF, have verified that Elizabeth’s plan is fully paid for, won’t raise taxes on middle-class families, and will make sure everyone gets the care they need from the doctors they trust.
Elizabeth Warren is running for president to fight for all of us—that’s why she’s the candidate with a comprehensive and achievable pathway to making sure every single person in this country has high-quality health care. Because the time for small ideas is over. This is our moment to dream big, fight hard, and win.
Want to read more? Read Elizabeth’s full plan here.
Learned something exciting? Talk about it with your friends, family, and voters! Be sure to ask them how this plan may help them in their day-to-day lives.