Common Sense: U. S. Health Care at a Crossroads in the 2018 Congress

Thomas Paine made a strong argument in his pamphlet, Common Sense, for people in the Thirteen Colonies to gain independence from England in 1775-1776. This pamphlet takes a similar approach, also based on simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense. Now, 242 years later, the subject is different but parallel to his goal—to have the American people gain freedom from corporate interests in our medical-industrial complex that take their exorbitant profits on the backs of sick Americans, their families, and taxpayers. Here we describe how Republicans have failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) over the last seven years. The ACA remains the law of the land, but Republicans in Congress are relentless in their efforts to sabotage it. We now have just two future alternatives:1. A sabotaged ACA which will not assure access to affordable health care for tens of millions of Americans, or2. Universal coverage through single-payer Medicare for All. Real health care reform will require powerful grass roots pressure and assertion of the public will in the upcoming 2018 and 2020 elections.