The healthcare system in the United States is profoundly broken. While insurance and pharmaceutical companies post record profits, 28 million people in the country are still uninsured and millions more are forced to forego necessary care because of unaffordable costs. Today, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), introduced a bill, the Medicare for All Act of 2022, that reimagines healthcare as a fundamental human right.
The APWU has long called for single-payer healthcare and is proud to endorse the Medicare for All Act of 2022.
“Postal workers know the value of affordable, universal services, grounded in a commitment to putting people over profits. That’s the type of service we provide the people every day,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “As the experience of the pandemic has tragically underscored, the wellbeing of any of us is deeply tied to the wellbeing of all of us. It’s time for a healthcare system that prioritizes the health of the many over the profits of the few. It’s time for Medicare for All.”
While postal workers already enjoy quality health insurance, the APWU believes that a single-payer system like Medicare for All would benefit not only the uninsured, but postal workers as well. Quite simply, our health plans are far too expensive, for individual postal workers and for our employers. Today, despite the millions of uninsured people, the United States spends far more per capita for healthcare than other similar countries, while achieving worse health outcomes.