WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Thursday that he will be partnering with leading digital outlets NowThis, The Young Turks and ATTN: on a groundbreaking Medicare for All national town hall.
“For the first time in American history we will be holding a nationally televised town meeting on Medicare for all. The United States is the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people, but amazingly there has not been one network town hall to discuss why our system lags so far behind every other industrialized country,” Sanders said. “We are going outside the traditional media to change that, to talk about the real issues affecting the American people.”
With the introduction of the Medicare for All Act last year, Sanders and 137 of his colleagues in Congress began the long struggle to end the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country not to guarantee health care to all its people. Already, 60 percent of the American people want to expand Medicare to provide health insurance to everyone, but many Americans still do not know how a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care system would work in the United States.
To answer that question and more, Sanders and leading digital outlets are partnering on a Medicare for all town hall Jan. 23 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. For the first time, leading digital outlets will come together to do what cable channels and network news will not – engage in an in-depth conversation about one of the issues that matter most to Americans, their health care. The event will be streamed live across Sanders‘, NowThis‘, ATTN:‘s and The Young Turks‘ social media channels.
The event, which is open to the public, will be held in the Capitol Visitor Center’s Congressional Auditorium in Washington, D.C. Guests interested in attending can find more information here.
Sanders and leading health care experts will take questions about Medicare for all from people around the country, discuss what it means to practice medicine in America when patients cannot afford the health care they need, talk about the economic and business impact of single payer and hear international perspectives on how universal health care can be achieved.
“Health care policy is an extremely complex topic, and ATTN: is committed to giving people context around how it affects their actual, everyday lives. We’re excited for our audience to hear Sen. Sanders describe his plan and face the tough questions people usually ask about Medicare for All,” Mike Vainisi, head of editorial at ATTN: said.
“People are hungry for a thoughtful and honest conversation about health care – an often-misunderstood issue that directly impacts our daily lives. NowThis is proud to work with these other outlets to reach an enormous young audience across social media and provide them with the opportunity to directly address Senator Sanders and ask questions of him and leading health care and economic experts,” said Versha Sharma, managing editor at NowThis.
“The mainstream media continues to ignore how income inequality and the lack of a decent health care system devastates the middle class,” Ana Kasparian, co-host of The Young Turks, said. “I look forward to hearing from Bernie how his Medicare for All plan can address this issue at the town hall.”
