Healthcare Reform
Our healthcare system is in crisis.
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other high-income country but has worse health outcomes, including the lowest life expectancy at birth and the highest rate of people with multiple chronic diseases.
25 million people were uninsured in the US in 2023.
Many of those who are insured still can't afford healthcare due to huge out-of-pocket costs.
Researchers estimate this lack of adequate healthcare led to over 330,000 excess deaths from Covid-19.
The Wall Street parties are funded by the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and other big healthcare profiteers to perpetuate this failed system that puts profits over people.
Healthcare is a human right.We need a universal healthcare system that is equitable, comprehensive, free at point of service, and accessible to every single person in the US.
A Jill Stein administration will:
Immediately implement National Improved Medicare for All as a precursor to establishing a UK-style National Healthcare Service which will replace private hospital, private medical practice, and private medical insurance with a publicly-owned, democratically controlled healthcare service that will guarantee healthcare as a human right to everyone in the United States
- Cancel all medical debt
- Advance reproductive rights and codify Roe v. Wade
- Ensure the U.S. healthcare system operates with full protection, respect and inclusion of human rights for all, including women and 2SLGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, Black, Indigenous, and people of color
- Restore confidence in the FDA, CDC and other regulatory boards by 1) closing the revolving door between corporations and regulatory boards and 2) getting corrupting big money out of politics by adopting public financing of elections.
- Restore confidence in the FDA, CDC and other regulatory boards by 1) closing the revolving door between corporations and regulatory boards and 2) getting corrupting big money out of politics by adopting public financing of elections.
- Expand public funding - and phase out private/corporate funding - of medical and pharmaceutical research, conducted in public health agencies, public universities and medical schools
- Ban patents where the research and development has been paid for by taxpayers via public colleges, the NIH, the CDC and other governmental entities
- Restore funding to all medical governmental agencies including Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
- Take the pharmaceutical industry into public ownership and democratic control. Big pharma has failed to serve the public interest in an industry awash in private profit as it gouged consumers with monopolistic pricing in a business model centered on addictive opioids and patent-protected medicines. It's time to ensure the production of life-saving medicines that millions rely on with their production as public goods.
- Eliminate healthcare inequities and gaps in all disadvantaged communities by investing in local clinics and community hospitals
- Establish a Federal Community Care Agency to provide community-based support, long-term in-home and in-community care, and visitation care to seniors and to people with disabilities
- Ensure fair compensation for home caregivers
- Guarantee long-term care for all patients in their home and community.
- Prohibit the keeping of people's possessions by assisted living facilities after death
- Eliminate Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) and other burdensome and discriminatory compliance requirements and enact protections against healthcare surveillance
- Offer responsible and transparent end-of-life care to those who want it
- Respect bodily autonomy and personal freedom and choice in medical treatments, including the right to dignified assisted death
- Fund and support research and development of treatment for rare diseases
- Federal legalization and funding of cannabis medicinal research
- Launch an urgent national program to rebuild the U.S. epidemic/pandemic responses:
Review and update the 2006 Pandemic Preparedness Act (last updated prior to COVID in 2019) to ensure U.S. pandemic preparedness is fully funded.
- Ban private investment in CDC healthcare projects in order to restore public trust
- Strengthen the infrastructure for accelerated emergency distribution of information, medications, vaccines, and treatments
- Fund and provide high-quality personal protective equipment such as N-95 type masks and all diagnostic testing (including viral load testing) free at local pharmacies
- Mandate and provide funding for high-quality air filtration code improvements for all public transportation, public buildings, schools and businesses
- Restore OSHA-supported airborne protections for healthcare workers
- Establish policies that will eliminate SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools, healthcare facilities, and on public transportation
- Further study the Novavax protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to determine safety and efficacy for children under 12; remove restrictions if findings allow
Address Long COVID
COVID-19 likely increased the disabled population in the United States by over 1.2 million persons just from 2020 to 2021. As of August 2022, some 16 million Americans were affected by long Covid, with 2 to 4 million out of work due to the condition. Long Covid causes both cognitive and physical impairments and can develop after the initial illness, with each subsequent infection increasing the risk of developing it.
- Ensure those affected by long Covid are protected in their workplace, and their needs for housing, healthcare, and economic security are met
- Fully fund research into the causes, prevention and treatment of long COVID