Greensboro City Council Joins More Than 100 Localities in Support of Medicare for All
For Immediate Release: Oct. 4, 2022
Contact: Darcey Rakestraw, darcey@2050strategies.com
David Rosen, drosen@citizen.org
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Greensboro City Council on Monday passed a resolution in support of a nationwide Medicare for All program, sending a strong message to U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) that residents of her district care about ending for-profit health care in favor of a universal system without copays or out-of-pocket costs.
In North Carolina’s 6th district, where Greensboro is located, more than 80,000 people are uninsured. More than half of North Carolina’s uninsured are minorities.
Greesnboro joins more than 100 other localities nationwide that have called for guaranteed health care for all – regardless of age, race, income, or zip code. Most recently, Atlanta adopted a resolution in support of Medicare for All in September.
“Medicare for All is the only proposed legislation that addresses the exceptionally high cost of American healthcare,” said Margaret Villani, with the North Carolina Medicare for All Coalition. “It covers all residents within one insurance plan that assures access to quality healthcare free of the burden of financial hardship.”
“We’ve developed huge, advanced health care systems which profit from rescuing those suffering these ill effects,” says Dr. Wayne Hale, a local gerontologist. “They compete to cover more patients, often with redundant facilities spread over several states, which don’t supply primary preventive care to those who can’t afford their basic fees. This inability to pay makes medical bills the largest cause of declaring bankruptcy in our nation.”
“Greensboro is the latest North Carolina municipality to enthusiastically declare its support for Medicare for All, joining the ranks of Durham, Orange County and Carrboro,” says Brittany Shannahan, Medicare For All organizer at Public Citizen. “This resolution, passed in the largest city in the state’s Sixth Congressional District, sends a strong message to Rep. Kathy Manning that Medicare for All is a popular and sensible solution to America’s broken healthcare system.”