All it took for Olympian Ariana Ramsey to call herself a “universal free health care advocate” was — unsurprisingly — a taste of free health care.
The bronze-medalist rugby player, who represented the U.S. at the 2024 Paris games, posted Tik Tok videos of herself getting care at the Olympic Village.
“The fact that I’m actually so excited to be getting free dental…!” she said incredulously, unable to finish her sentence. “This is going to be my new fight for action — free health care in America — period.” While in Paris, Ramsey got a pap smear, eye exam, and eyeglasses all free of charge — and said she was “truly amazed” that such a thing was possible.
Ramsey was so impressed she asked the people of France if she could be adopted into their nation so she could continue getting free care. Such a request, even if tongue-in-cheek, by a person representing the U.S. ought to embarrass politicians.
A majority of Americans report feeling dissatisfied with their access to health care. Millions turn to crowdfunding campaigns to ask family, friends, and random strangers to help them pay for unexpected care.
But ahead of the 2024 presidential race, neither of the two major party nominees has offered a pathway for a universal, publicly funded health care system.
Donald Trump has offered little detail on his current health plan, although he’s linked to a group seeking to gut Medicare. His first presidential term was marked by a failed attempt to overturn the Affordable Care Act, a desire to cut Medicaid, and the appointment of Supreme Court justices who overturned the federal right to an abortion.
Needless to say, these changes only make a deeply flawed system worse.
On the other hand, Kamala Harris, who previously co-sponsored Senator Bernie Sanders’s single payer bill in 2019, will reportedly avoid promoting the plan this year. Nor has Harris adopted the more modest idea she endorsed in 2019: a publicly funded health plan that people could opt into, known as the “public option.”
Instead, Harris has chosen to campaign on tinkering around the edges of our complicated patchwork system by lowering a handful of prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients.
While it is an incredible achievement on the part of the Biden-Harris administration to regulate drug prices for the first time in decades, the changes are modest. They’re limited to only 10 drugs this year (with more drugs to be regulated each year) and only apply to people already enrolled in Medicare.
A better step forward would be to expand on the government-provided health care we already have for certain populations: veterans (through the Veterans Affairs system), people over the age of 65 (though Medicare), and very low-income people making poverty-level wages (through Medicaid).
Simply expanding Medicare to all would cover everyone else — and save taxpayers trillions relative to buying for-profit insurance.
Harris still has time to back health care for all, but it will take a massive public push from below. In spite of the enormous amount of pro-corporate propaganda against universal health care, a majority of Americans have historically supported single payer healthcare. A May 2024 Data for Progress poll found that two-thirds of Americans support expanding Medicare to all.
Ramsey went viral for her endearing enthusiasm over a right that a majority of people in wealthy nations take for granted. “America needs to do better with their healthcare system,” she rightly said. “There’s no reason why an American girl should be so amazed by free health care.”
Sonali Kolhatkar is the host of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.
From The Progressive Populist, September 15, 2024
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