A group of Democrats in the House of Representatives announced that they are forming a 'Medicare for All' Caucus, the Washington Examiner reported.
The group of 66 Democrats on Thursday proclaimed that healthcare is a right and that the current system fails to address rising costs and leaves too many people without coverage or access.
The new group’s goal will be to create information on how a Medicare-run health system would work, to study similar policies that other countries have used, and to decide how to finance such a system, said one of the co-chairs, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the Examiner reported.
"We are united today by the common conviction that healthcare is a human right, that healthcare must be affordable and accessible in the U.S.," she said.
While Medicare now covers adults 65 and older and people who have disabilities, the "Medicare for All" plan would move people in the U.S. from private health insurance, Medicaid, and having no insurance, to being covered under the Medicare program, the group noted.
Sixteen Democrats in the Senate support the House group on the Senate side, rallying behind Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the report said. The Congressional Budget Office has not yet determined how much such a plan would cost, but a 2016 analysis by the Urban Institute of Sanders’ campaign plan said that would cost $32 trillion over a decade, the Examiner reported.
"Healthcare cannot be a luxury that’s only available for the wealthy and well-connected—it is a human right," Jayapal said in a Thursday tweet.
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