A 23-minute video that makes the case for Medicare for everyone will be aired at 7 p.m. March 18 at the Greater Westmoreland County Labor Council meeting at Hempfield No. 2 Fire Department, Thornton Road.

A panel discussion will follow the video with labor activists from the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare and doctors from the Pittsburgh chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.

The video is geared to help union members understand how the proposed Medicare for All Act, which was introduced in the House of Representatives in February, would provide comprehensive health care coverage for all U.S. residents, without co-pays, deductibles or premiums. The video includes interviews with U.S. and Canadian trade unionists and doctors from the physicians group.

If the nation were to enact the Medicare for All as a national health insurance program, it would take health care “off the table” during contract negotiations and workers would no longer lose their health insurance coverage if they are on strike, locked out or unemployed, according to Harriet Ellenberger, secretary of the Greater Westmoreland Labor Council.

As written, the bill would prevent employers from offering private insurance. A George Mason University study estimated the cost of providing Medicare for all Americans would cost about $32 trillion over 10 years.

For more information, contact Ellenberger at 724-423-2878.

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