#1595 Pushing for Medicare For All in the Laboratories of Democracy
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.6 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 29 November 2023
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 11/29/2023
The movement for universal health care is still underway, though it rarely gets recognized in mainstream discourse. The death of Medicare For All (M4A) activist Ady Barkan is an occasion worth using to look at the progress being made to improve our system of promoting the health of all people in the United States as well as efforts to rein in the power of big Pharma that's used to gouge the American people with exorbitant prices. So, that's what we're doing.
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SHOW NOTES
Healthcare activist Ady Barkan has died at the age of 39 of the neurodegenerative disease ALS. His story is told in the documentary Not Going Quietly. In 2021, Democracy Now! spoke with Ady Barkan just ahead of the film’s premiere.
Ch. 2: Why your health insurance is tied to work - The Weeds - Air Date 10-18-23
The wartime policy that changed health insurance forever
Ch. 3: Rethinking the path to winning single payer - Code WACK! - Air Date 4-10-23
Winning Medicare for All in the U.S. may be at a standstill at the federal level, but it's a different story In the states. In 2021 alone, 18 single-payer bills were introduced in states such as Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, and Oregon.
If Medicare Advantage, the profit-driven entity that is decidedly NOT part of REAL Medicare, could be summed up in three words, they might be: deny, deny, deny.
Peter Maybarduk joins us to discuss how the new negotiation process aims to break up drug monopolies and disband the pharmaceutical industry’s profit incentive.
Interview with Dr. Stephen Bezruchka on how economic inequality connects to stress, health problems, and inadequate healthcare."
Today's three integral guests (listed below) join the Laura Flanders Show to discuss the pharmaceutical industry and how to end Big Pharma companies' monopoly.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 8: The Challenge of Caring for Our Elders - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 11-15-23
Reed Abelson, New York Times reporter, talks about the financial challenges of caring for our elders since the United States does not have a comprehensive system to help pay for long-term care as the population ages.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 9: Final comments on more good news from the fight against climate change
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE
Description: A photo of Ady Barkan wearing a “Be A Hero” shirt while sitting in his specialized wheelchair and smiling at someone off-camera.
Credit: “Elizabeth Warren & Ady Barkan”, Elizabeth Warren, Flickr | License: CC By 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the Award winning Best of the Left podcast in which we are |
| 0:07.2 | honoring the death of Medicare for all activists at a bargain who passed away this |
| 0:11.5 | month by looking at the progress of the movement for universal health care, |
| 0:16.1 | as well as the efforts to rein in the power of big pharma that's used to gouge the American people |
| 0:21.6 | with exorbitant prices for life-saving prescription drugs. |
| 0:25.6 | Sources today include Democracy Now, The Weeds, Code Wack, the Tom Hartman Program, |
| 0:32.2 | Economic Update with Richard Wolf and the Laura Flander show |
| 0:36.1 | with an additional members only clip from the Brian Lehrer show. Health care activist Oti Barkin has died at the age of 39 of the neurodegenerative |
| 0:52.2 | disease ALS. |
| 0:53.8 | After his diagnosis in 2016, Adi Barkin dedicated his life to the fight for single-payer health |
| 1:00.6 | care. |
| 1:01.6 | He continued to speak out even after ALS left him physically unable |
| 1:06.1 | to talk, communicating with a computerized system that translated his eye movements into spoken words. |
| 1:14.3 | In 2019, howdy used the device |
| 1:17.3 | to deliver powerful opening remarks |
| 1:19.8 | at the first ever congressional hearing |
| 1:21.6 | on Medicare for All. |
| 1:22.8 | His story is told in the documentary, |
| 1:24.8 | not going quietly. |
| 1:26.9 | In 2021, I spoke with Adi Barkin just ahead of the film's premiere. |
| 1:31.3 | We end today's show with one of the most remarkable health care activists in the country. |
| 1:35.3 | His name is Adi Barkin. |
... |
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