NEWS & VIEWS
Activists in Washington, D.C. demonstrating for health care reforms in 2021.
SHUTTERSTOCK
The Incision
My testimony to the Senate Budget Committee on Medicare for All By Abdul E l- Sayed Friends, last week I found myself on Capitol Hill in W ashington, D .C. to testify before the Senate Budget Committee on Medicare for All. I wanted to share my written testimony with you, laying out the case for Medicare for All — and how it would solve not j ust a limited set of our challenges, but all of them. Y ou can watch the testimony at budget. senate.gov.
My name is r. Abdul El ayed, I trained as a physician and epidemiologist. I served the ity o etroit as ealth irector between and ,
where I was responsible or the basic health and wel are o nearly , etroiters. I also led the rebuilding o the etroit ealth epartment a ter it had been privati ed during municipal ban ruptcy and financial ta eover by the tate o ichigan under the same system o emergency management that led to the lint ater risis. oday, I teach at the niversity o ichigan s ord chool o ublic olicy, as well as American niversity s chool o ublic A airs. I find mysel shouldering the aw ward responsibility o e plaining the hapha ard dys unc-
12 May 18-24, 2022 | metrotimes.com
tion o American healthcare to some o the brightest young policy minds in the country. I watch my students aces crin le when I e plain how deductibles wor comparing them to having to pay . or each movie you watch on Net i even though you already pay or your monthly subscription. ast year, my boo on the very subject o this hearing, along with r. icah ohnson, Medicare for All: A Citiz en’s G uide was published by O ord niversity ress. I have given a copy to each o your o ces. I want to start with the two most
obvious problems in American healthcare e ail to provide everyone health insurance coverage. he cost o healthcare in America is spiraling upward. Coverage e li e to thin o ourselves as customers o healthcare. ut we are not. o understand why, let s review how being a customer actually wor s. Imagine you were to go to a armer s mar et in search o some heirloom tomatoes. here are multiple varieties
