House of Representatives Holds First “Medicare-for-All” Hearing

California Health Advocates > News > Health Care Reform > House of Representatives Holds First “Medicare-for-All” Hearing

Posted by

Karen Fletcher

May 7, 2019

Last week, Congress’ House of Representatives held the first ever “Medicare-for-All” hearing. Six hours of emotional testimony was given on the Medicare for All Act of 2019 (H.R. 1384), including testimony from Ady Barkan, a 35 year old single-payer activist with ALS with a courageous, challenging and touching story.

This legislation, introduced by Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell, would improve and expand Medicare as a national health insurance program to cover all Americans, and include additional benefits not currently covered by Medicare, such as long-term services and supports, vision, dental and hearing.

While some Democrat leaders are not yet in support, over 100 Democratic cosponsors and many 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are in favor of the proposal. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) also introduced a similar but not identical piece of legislation, Medicare for All Act of 2019 (S. 1129) with 14 Democratic cosponsors.

Karen Joy Fletcher

Our blogger Karen Joy Fletcher is CHA’s Communications Director. With a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley, she is the online “public face” of the organization, provides technical expertise, writing and research on Medicare and other health care issues. She is responsible for digital content creation, management of CHA’s editorial calendar, and managing all aspects of CHA’s social media presence. She loves being a “communicator” and enjoys networking and collaborating with the passionate people and agencies in the health advocacy field. See her current articles.

Frequently Asked Questions About Medicare and Covered California

CHA & Advocates Nationwide Push for Extended Equitable Relief

CHA Shares Beneficiaries’ Stories While Advocating for HHS to Protect Medicare & Medicaid

An Overview for Consumers of Selected Aspects of Health Care Reform

Change Text Size

[zeno_font_resizer]

News & Blog Categories

—

Send Us Comment

Do you have comments or concerns about your Medicare coverage? Issues regarding getting your needed prescriptions from your Part D plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan representative’s marketing practices? Let us know at comments@cahealthadvocates.org.

We are dedicated to making Medicare’s program work well for all beneficiaries. Your feedback from your own or your client’s concerns and experiences with Medicare, will guide our Medicare advocacy efforts with key policy and decision-makers in both California and nationally with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Congress.