"Millions of People Who Depended on Employer-Based Health Insurance Are Screwed" -Fred Klonsky

“Medicare for All was a central issue of debate during the Democratic presidential primaries. Bernie supported it. Nearly all the others opposed it. Joe Biden promised to veto it even in the unlikely event it passed a Democratic Party Congress.

“National union leaders like the AFL CIO’s Richard Trumka and the American Federation of Teachers’ Randi Weingarten also opposed national health care on the basis that the health insurance bargained by their affiliated unions was superior to any government system.

“With millions of workers in states that ban collective bargaining, it was always a foolish argument. Even in states with collective bargaining rights, only a small percentage of workers are covered by a union contract that includes quality health insurance. And now the shit has hit the fan.

“The numbers of people who have lost employer-provided health insurance since the start of the pandemic is not exactly clear. It is millions. That we know. ‘Because of job losses between February and May of this year, 5.4 million laid-off workers became uninsured. These recent increases in the number of uninsured adults are 39% higher than any annual increase ever recorded. The highest previous increase took place over the one-year period from 2008 to 2009, when 3.9 million nonelderly adults became uninsured.’

“Others estimate the number is much, much larger. Biden’s solution is to expand the Affordable Care Act. Trump has gone to the Supreme Court to overturn ACA entirely. Even if Biden is elected, any Congressional action would be months into 2021. Those without coverage and get infected by COVID19 are facing financial and a life-threatening health emergency now” (Fred Klonsky’s Blog).