Thread by @Skoldylox

We advocate for #singlepayer, #MedicareForAll and #CalCare, and reject half measures because single payer is the correct policy, not because we're some sort of wild-eyed radicals.

THREAD on how people insisting we compromise out of the gate are the unreasonable ones 👇👇👇

1) I've heard talk about how @CalNurses and other #CalCare proponents are "unreasonable." That we "won't compromise." That "you can't win that way."

My question to these people is...have you been paying attention at all over the last decade and a half?

2) Rewind to debate over the #ACA. Remember how the initial push was for a #PublicOption? Specifically, a robust one that tied payment rates to Medicare. Not a permanent fix to our health care system by any stretch, but certainly better than we ultimately got.

Did we get it? No

3) What actually happened is, during the course of debate, the robust public option became a weak option, and ultimately became no option. We ended up with the insurance and pharma-friendly ACA instead.

This is negotiation 101: you NEVER start with a compromise. You won't win

4) We know that #SinglePayer is a better system than a fragmented system. Even a more regulated fragmented system won't achieve the same results. Take the French NHI, widely considered one of the best systems in the world. There is no option for plans covering essential services.

5) The French allow for private insurance outside of the covered benefits of the NHI. This is fine in a #SinglePayer system, and #MedicareForAll type proposals here allow for that sort of insurance.

What they do not allow is middlemen to gatekeep essential care.

6) National Health Insurance systems like France, Taiwan, etc, have some of the best performing health systems in the world. While they include elements that aren't included in proposals like MFA and CalCare, like some cost sharing, the principle is still the same

7) This brings me back to my earlier point: starting a negotiation with a weaker plan is a fool's errand. If we start the negotiations with a proposal with no cost sharing or co-insurance at all, and end the leg process with the French health system, we absolutely win.

8) If you shoot for everything, you can get most of it. If you shoot for less than everything, you'll get less than that. Never compromise before you have to. That's why the people who are screaming about half measures and compromise are wrong, on both the policy AND the politics

9) To be clear, we want the whole damn thing and we won't apologize for it. We want to guarantee health care for all. We don't want any cost sharing at the point of service. We want expanded benefits. We want no middlemen. That's the best system. That's what we advocate for

10) But the leg process is tough. Compromise *is* often needed to pass a bill. But like I said. If you ask for more, you can get more. Fighting like hell for a policy, and having to settle for 90 percent of that policy, is very different than asking for 90 percent and getting 50

11) People insisting on compromise will say "I agree with the goal but it's not feasible." They will then advocate for half measures instead. I've even seen some people and organizations who call themselves single payer supporters take this track. And it's quite frustrating.

12) You win by organizing. To organize, you need people to buy into your vision. Sorry, but I don't find "piecemeal reform to a system that is obviously irredeemable" or "study what we might be able to accomplish someday rather than just doing the thing" inspiring. Most ppl don't

13) If you support single payer, fight for single payer legislation. It's the fastest way to make it happen. It is the policy that is correct. It is the policy that inspires activists. It is the policy that we know will fix our broken system. Stop insisting that we ask for less