1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to support Medicare for All legislation as the comprehensive solution needed to address our failing healthcare system. The current crisis is causing preventable suffering and death among your constituents. More than one in three adults in the United States skipped or postponed needed healthcare in the last 12 months due to cost. Among uninsured adults under age 65, that number rises to 75 percent. Over a four-year study period, more than a quarter of adults went without needed care or experienced significant cost burdens. These are not just statistics. These are your constituents making impossible choices between their health and their financial survival. Recent proposals from the Trump administration fail to address these fundamental problems. Instead of reversing massive cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act that funded tax cuts for billionaires, the administration is pushing privatization schemes that place Medicare enrollees in private health contracts where corporations prioritize profits over patient needs. Adding Medicare Advantage-style prior authorization to traditional Medicare will create additional barriers to care when Americans are already struggling. Medicare for All offers a proven path forward. It would guarantee everyone in the United States can get care when needed without financial barriers. The system would be cheaper than our current approach while providing better coverage than any commercial plan. It would expand Medicare services, end out-of-pocket costs, and extend coverage to everyone. This is not a radical idea. Every other comparably wealthy country has universal healthcare, and none would trade their systems for ours. Your constituents support this change. Sixty-five percent of voters support a Medicare for All-style system, and a similar percentage believe the federal government does too little to ensure Americans can afford healthcare. I urge you to cosponsor Medicare for All legislation and work to build support for its passage. Americans are dying because they cannot access care. We need action now.