Bethlehem, Pa., Supports Medicare for All; Follows California Cities
Fox News Town Hall Audience Applauded Medicare for All, and the City Council Concurred
On Wednesday night, the Bethlehem City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of Medicare for All. Bethlehem, with a population of more than 75,000, was the site of a town hall in April hosted by Fox News at which the audience cheered when asked who liked the idea of replacing private insurance with a government-sponsored plan. That clip received national media attention.
The Bethlehem resolution follows resolutions in support of Medicare for All that passed in Los Angeles and Goleta, Calif. earlier this week. Other major cities that officially endorsed Medicare for All include St. Petersburg and Tampa, Fla.; Detroit; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Seattle and Durham, N.C. Public Citizen is leading a grassroots effort to gain support for such measures, with more than 220 local efforts underway across the country.
“The people of Bethlehem surprised Fox News, but this City Council resolution is just one more indication that support for Medicare for All is growing in all corners of the country,” said Melinda St. Louis, director of Public Citizen’s Medicare for All campaign. “This is what happens when the people demand that health care be a right, not a privilege. Congress must take notice.”
Under a Medicare for All health care system, Americans would receive the health care they need without being subject to out-of-pocket costs or at the mercy of greedy for-profit insurance corporations – while saving families and the country on overall health care costs.
For more than 45 years, Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, has called for legislation that would guarantee health care for all. To speak with a Medicare for All policy expert, or if you have questions, please contact Mike Stankiewicz at mstankiewicz@citizen.org, or (202) 588-7779.