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There Are 106 Democratic Co-Sponsors for Medicare for All. What's Up With the Other 130?

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A week after the introduction of comprehensive single-payer healthcare legislation, Congressional Democrats are split over the bill.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) unveiled the Medicare for All Act Feb. 27 in an outdoor press conference. On Wednesday morning, Jayapal appeared on Democracy Now! to tell hosts Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez where the legislation stood a week in and stressed the universal popularity of the plan. 

“This is a plan that unites Republicans, Democrats, and independents,” said Jayapal. “It’s certainly what the polling shows, that people are with us on this.”

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Despite the public support for the plan, however, Congress isn’t totally sold on the bill. Jayapal acknowledged that she’d have to work to convince her party on the merits of the legislation—even as other Democrats like Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) are introducing their own versions of healthcare legislation that would expand Medicare to people 50 and over. 

“I do not think that you can really guarantee universal coverage to everybody and contain costs by nibbling around the edges,” Jayapal said. “And with lots of respect to my colleagues, who are, you know, just trying to expand Medicare, buy-in at 50, things like that, that is not going to accomplish [ending] the deep sickness of our for-profit healthcare system. We have to take that on, if we are going to provide universal coverage. And Medicare for All is really the only plan that does that.”

130 Democrats

Jayapal’s bill has the support of 106 other House Democrats, but there are still 130 members of the majority party who have yet to sign on. Those members, according to a study by Carl Gibson at GritPost, are recipients of over $43 million in donations from the healthcare industry over their careers.

“Additionally, not one member of House Democrats’ leadership has co-sponsored the bill,” wrote Gibson. 

You can read the list of names—and their contributions—here.

On Tuesday, Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), the chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), said in an interview that the legislation was “scary.”

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Of the 130 Democrats not supporting the bill, 29 supported similar legislation in the last Congress, according to a separate study conducted by Alex Panagiotopoulos for Space Commune. 

Of the 29 drop offs, 26 co-sponsored H.R. 676, the precursor to this year’s legislation. The remaining three are freshmen who expressed support for Medicare for All on the campaign trail.

Pushing from the Left

Advocacy group National Nurses United, in a statement Tuesday, announced the organization’s intention to hold House Democrats accountable if they don’t support the bill. Executive director Bonnie Castillo said that her group takes its responsibility as healthcare professionals seriously, and that supporting Medicare for All was the right path forward for the country. 

“Nurses take an oath to advocate for our patients,” said Castillo, “and we can think of no better way to advance the health and the health of our country than to be on the frontlines of organizing this nationwide social movement to win Medicare for All.”

A number of other high powered progressive organizations are throwing their weight behind the bill, Sarah Jones reported at New York:

Support isn’t limited to the left. At Crooked, which is part of the establishment Democratic media outlet that produces the Pod Save America podcast, Dr. Lisa Beutler wrote that despite her belief that there was some room for debate on the details, Medicare for All is the only option for the American healthcare system.

“I strongly believe,” wrote Beutler, “that in its essence Medicare for All is the only way to achieve truly universal healthcare.”

That sentiment was in line with Castillo’s view from Saturday. In a column for The Hill, Castillo argued that passing Medicare for All was more than the right thing to do for the nation’s health—it’s the right thing for the country’s future.

“A majority of the people in this country, regardless of party or background, are demanding real healthcare reform, now,” wrote Castillo. “In the name of democracy, our legislators must answer that demand by supporting the Medicare for All Act of 2019.”

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