PNHP

Physiciansā€™ group responds to Emergency Health Care Guarantee Act

Statement from Dr. Adam Gaffney, president of Physicians for a National Health Program, in response to the Emergency Health Care Guarantee Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2020

Contact: Adam Gaffney, President of Physicians for a National Health Program, gaffney.adam@gmail.com
Clare Fauke, Physicians for a National Health Program, clare@pnhp.org

“Each week, millions of Americans are losing their jobs ā€” and their health coverage ā€” with no end in sight. To minimize suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic, we need strong medicine from Washington. The Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act introduced earlier today fits the bill. It would use Medicare to provide immediate coverage of health care costs for the uninsured, and to provide wrap-around coverage of copays and deductibles for those with existing insurance.

ā€œIn contrast, proposals to subsidize private health insurance premiums through COBRA would still leave tens of millions uninsured, and far more under-insured, facing high deductibles and copays that stand in the way of care. COBRA subsidizes prop up the health insurance industry while leaving families in the lurch. In the long run, we need Medicare for All to provide full health protections for Americans. But the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act could ensure protection for American families today.”

Adam Gaffney, M.D., M.P.H. is the president of Physicians for a National Health Program, instructor at Harvard Medical School, and a pulmonary and critical care physician at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a Massachusetts safety-net hospital system which has the highest share of beds devoted to the care of COVID-19 patients of any hospital in that state. Dr. Gaffney can be reached at 917-539-0434 (call or text), or gaffney.adam@gmail.com. He Tweets at: @awgaffney.

Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) is a nonprofit organization whose 23,000 members advocate for single-payer Medicare-for All.

The Emergency Health Care Guarantee Act is sponsored by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

House sponsors include Reps. Jayapal (D-Wash.), Bass (D-Calif.), DeFazio (D-Ore.), Garcia, J. (D-Ill.), Kennedy (D-Mass.), Khanna (D-Calif.), Meng (D-N.Y.), Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Omar (D-Minn.), Pocan (D-Wis.), Pressley (D-Mass.), Raskin (D-Md.), Bonamici (D-Ore.), Dingell (D-Mich.), Cohen (D-Tenn.), Norton (D-DC), Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Espaillat (D-N.Y.).