Medicare for all – why supporters can’t agree what it should mean

When the House Rules Committee recently took up a controversial topic – shifting U.S. health care onto the shoulders of government as a “single payer” – the voice of one witness seemed loudest precisely because he had none. Due to illness, activist Ady Barkan was unable to speak to the committee. Instead his typed responses, delivered to the room by a monotone synthetic voice, told of his battles with insurance companies as he seeks both medical care and time with his wife and young son.

“If I couldn’t use GoFundMe, I would probably start by asking my parents to start spending down their retirement savings, then we would go hat in hand to friends. Nobody dealing with a serious illness should have to do either of these things,” he said. “We should instead have a rational, fair,

A key issue for votersLess radical change?A values conversation