Thread by @RickSmithShow

Joe Sanberg: The ACA is a great transition for Medicare for All, which is where we need to be. The popularity of the ACA is why Republicans want to get rid of it--they knew once people had it, they wouldn't want to be without it.
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Joe Sanberg: Ultimately, the Affordable Care Act has been a boon for all insurance companies. We need to move away from a system that uses for-profit insurance companies.
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Joe Sanberg: I think most businesses would like to be out of the business of administering health insurance. The only ones who don't mind it are the insurance companies. We find broad support of a Medicare for All-type plan.
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Joe: If political leaders merged, who were really willing to fight for Medicare for All, they'd find intense resistance from the health insurance industry & support from the business community--IF there was political leadership willing to go to the mat for it
@JosephNSanberg

Joe Sanberg: If we have a grassroots groundswell from voters, that can offset even a tepid response from the business community. We need to build that groundswell as part of our plan.
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Joe Sanberg: We have to be able to deliver healthcare that's as good as the ACA & private health insurance. There are only so many negotiating points. Unions could negotiate for higher wages instead of negotiating for better healthcare.
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Rick: I pay over $11.00/hr for healthcare as negotiated by my union. If that's taken away via a national healthcare system, I get that money back in my paycheck. Non-union workers probably wouldn't see that money as the company would just absorb it.
#RickShow #1u #UnionStrong

Joe Sanberg: We need to better educate people--that's crucial. I think a lot of people think single-payer health system would be run by gov't by that's not true--it just means there's a single payer. The hospitals, etc., would still be private.
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Joe: There are hugely profitable military-supplying companies in the US, but the single payer is the US Gov't.
Rick: The military has gov't health insurance.
Joe: Gov't-paid health ins. is more efficient. Private ins has 20% overhead; Medicare has 2%
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Joe Sanberg: Imagine taking that 20% overhead & drop it to 2%--that's a huge savings for taxpayers.
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Joe Sanberg: This conversation wouldn't be complete if we didn't discuss the history of universal health insurance & the racism in our country. (con't)
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Joe Sanberg: (con't) Pres. Truman wanted universal health insurance. A group of southern legislators opposed it b/c it would have required the desegregation of hospitals in the south.
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Joe Sanberg: It seems odd that the people most professing their religiosity--the far right--are the most racist, are pro-birth but once born, the kid's on its own. There's a lot of religious hypocrisy on the right.
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd

Get more information at the Center for Health & Democracy here:
centerforhealthanddemocracy.org
@JosephNSanberg @cforhd