On Saturday, January 26, I attended a town hall meeting held at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 1904 Walnut Street in Philadelphia, for Medicare for All, sponsored by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), along with the National labor Campaign for Single Payer, CWA District 2-13, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees-IBT, PASNAP, and UNITE-HERE, among others.

The speakers included Ed Mooney, Vice-President of CWA District 2-13, who spoke of the health care issue from the perspective of contract negotiations, and of the fight to implement in this “land of the free” a national-wide health insurance plan, as in Canada; and Michael Lighty, a fellow in the Sanders Institute and leader in California’s campaign for a single-payer system. Questions were taken from the audience.

The idea of health care as a commodity has led to a deterioration in health care, in spite of increasing costs. The time is NOW for a single-payer plan , as in Canada, to cover every American, no matter what their station in life, for health insurance. That would be one less source of anxiety alleviated from the minds of most Americans.