As the US Senate prepares to take a vote on whether to 'repeal and replace' Obamacare, a local group says it is time to go in the other direction...toward a 'Canada Style' universal health care system, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The group San Antonio Healthcare-NOW is made up of doctors, labor unions, religious leaders, activists, and Democratic Party backers like Sofia Sepulveda, who says it is the issue that can set the Democrats apart and lead to victory in future elections.
"The Democratic Party has lost 1100 seats across the country," she said. "We need to do something more than just resisting, we need to start demanding. And what would be a better thing to demand than Medicare for all?"
The plan would be to expand the Medicare program, which provides health care to retirees, to the entire population.
Dr. Byron Tucker, a psychiatrist, says, while Obamacare may help people get health insurance, it is still resulting in patients facing bankruptcy due to high deductibles and the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.
"Trying to even get them medications they can afford has always been a huge problem, and still is," he said.
Activists say the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, and other major lobbyists are working hard to scuttle the Medicare for all proposal, because it would be the end of their 'gravy train.' They say expending Medicare would empower the federal government to negotiate better prices for drugs, which is why costs are significantly lower in places like Canada.
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