By Healthcare is a Human Right
On September 5, Santa Clara County Single Payer Coalition and National Nurses United led a protest that started with a march through downtown Palo Alto leading to the door of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. The Congresswoman has made it clear she is against eliminating for-profit insurance companies from our healthcare system and replacing them with a non-profit federal system.
Anna Eshoo (U.S. Representative from California’s 18th congressional district) is currently chair of the House Subcommittee on Health. She will control the hearings on the healthcare insurance bills, including Medicare for All. At a recent town hall, she told constituents that there are many Medicare for All bills, but in actuality there is only one with that title. Others have misleadingly similar titles but are not single-payer enhanced Medicare for All.
Because the Congresswoman has made it clear she is against eliminating for-profit insurance companies from our healthcare system and replacing them with a non-profit federal system, groups that have been working long and hard on a single payer plan organized a demonstration in front of the her Palo Alto office. Speakers including a doctor, Medicare for All advocates, and victims of the current insurance system spoke at the protest. A theatrical skit by the Raging Grannies demonstrated just how undercovered Americans are with the current healthcare system.
Demonstrators started with a short rally in downtown Palo Alto’s Lytton Plaza, then marched through the city stopping at the city’s historic post office and other locations before landing in front of Eshoo’s office. There they rallied anew and delivered a petition of over 1,000 signatures calling for Eshoo to co-sign the HR 1384 Medicare for All bill.
