Our Health Care System Is Broken Beyond Repair. We Need Medicare for All.
We are in a health care crisis. Our system of care is beyond dysfunctional, driven by profit, and unable to serve the Americans who are the most vulnerable.
In my congressional district, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), the state’s largest safety net hospital, narrowly avoided closure last month after the Minnesota legislature reached a one-time funding deal to bring it back from the brink. That’s a huge relief for thousands of Minnesotans, but it’s just a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
Last year, Republicans and Donald Trump passed the cruel legislation misleadingly dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” delivering more than $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the rich while gutting $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade. This ugly legislation implemented the largest cuts to health care in modern U.S. history. The loss of funding will strip coverage from millions of people, push hospitals into closure, and make an already broken health care system even worse. In Minneapolis, HCMC and other health care providers are facing millions of dollars in losses this year as a result of the Republicans’ Medicaid cuts.
People in the U.S. are already feeling the consequences. When resources are stretched thin, patients and health care workers are the first to pay the price. It means longer wait times, overburdened clinicians, and elimination of critical services like mental health or maternal care. Hospitals facing financial distress are also more vulnerable to consolidation by predatory hospital corporations and private equity firms, which is correlated with lower-quality care.
The fallout won’t stop with patients and workers. After reviewing financial records from thousands of hospitals across the country, Public Citizen researchers identified 446 hospitals at heightened risk of closing or cutting services as Medicaid funding shrinks. Together, these hospitals serve roughly 7 million patients and employ 250,000 direct care workers. And the hospitals put most at risk by the GOP cuts disproportionately serve Black and Latinx communities, which are already experiencing higher rates of uninsurance and unmet medical needs.
The reality is that Americans were already struggling with our broken health system even before the Republicans’ cuts were implemented. Recent polls highlight just how dire circumstances are for people in the U.S., with 70 percent saying the health care system is in crisis or has major problems. This includes majorities across the political spectrum. The same poll found that only 16 percent — a record low — said they were satisfied with the total cost of the U.S. health care system. Another poll found that almost half of U.S. adults faced challenges affording health care in the past year, including 75 percent of uninsured adults under 65.
There’s no denying that it is time for change — it is way past time for Medicare for All. And the people agree. With frustrations running so deep, it is no wonder that nearly two-thirds of Americans support moving to Medicare for All, a system that would guarantee that everyone in the U.S. can get the care they need when they need it, regardless of their ability to pay. Multiple polls since 2016 have shown majority support for such a system. Medicare for All would shore up the health care industry’s finances by providing consistent funding to hospitals and providers while bringing down the overall cost of care in the United States. Health care is a human right, and we need to put an end to profiting off the backs of people who are sick.
Given the resources of our country, we can no longer justify the status quo. The U.S. spends almost twice per person on health care compared to other wealthy nations and our outcomes are often worse. Millions of Americans remain uninsured or underinsured. This is utterly outrageous, especially in the wealthiest country in the world. The reality is that every other comparably wealthy nation has a health care system that provides universal coverage at a fraction of the cost and has better health outcomes.
Medicare for All would bring our health care system up to par with those in other wealthy countries. It would take a program that has served Americans well for over 60 years and improve it by expanding available services and getting rid of out-of-pocket costs, and then provide it to everyone in the country. Medicare would finally be able to negotiate fair prices for services and prescription medications, and everyday people would finally get the care they need, when and where they need it, without fear of going bankrupt.
We are sick and tired of our health care system putting profits before people. We need to create a future in which every single person in the U.S. can get the care they need regardless of their ability to pay. It is paramount that we repeal Trump and the Republicans’ Medicaid cuts and restore Affordable Care Act premium subsidies immediately to serve patients and help keep hospitals open now, while we build the movement that will finally pass Medicare for All.
Repealing the cuts would prevent even more Americans from losing coverage and would start getting people covered again. However, without moving to Medicare for All, millions of Americans will remain uninsured or underinsured, meaning they can’t afford to use the health care coverage they have, and things will only get worse as our health care system continues to get more expensive every year. Only Medicare for All will finally ensure that people can get the care they need when they need it while holding down costs for both families and the country as a whole. Everyone in the U.S. deserves a health care system that finally works for them.