Legislation Comparison Grid and Testimony: Medicare for All Analysis

This assignment analyzes the 'Medicare for All' bill (H.R.1384) using a legislation comparison grid and an advocacy statement. The analysis covers the bill's description, federal nature, legislative intent, proponents and opponents, target population, and current status. The student's testimony supports the bill, emphasizing its potential to provide adequate healthcare to all citizens without out-of-pocket expenses, reduce healthcare disparities, and prevent bankruptcies. The testimony also addresses potential amendments to the bill, specifically regarding non-discrimination clauses. The analysis includes references to relevant sources supporting the information provided.

Legislation Comparison Grid Template
Use this document to complete Part 1 of the Module 2 Assessment Legislation Comparison Grid
and Testimony/Advocacy Statement
Health-related Bill
Name “Medicare For All”
Bill Number H.R.1384
Description The healthcare system of the United States is considered to be one of the
most expensive and inefficient throughout the world. Thus, the United
States has taken a crucial step towards including the Medicare programs
into the legislation methods. ‘Medicare For All’ Act was initiated to
provide services to the residents of the nation. This is given based on the
automatic enrollment of the individuals according to the birth and
residency in the United States along with covering all medical
necessities. The program was introduced by the National Health
Insurance program, which was overviewed by the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS). The medical services consist of hospital
services rehabilitate or prescription of drugs, as well as, mental health,
vision, and dental along with several long-term treatments including
abuse treatment for the required one. The bill restricts charges for the
covering services (Congress.Gov., 2019).
Federal or State? Similar to the other federal programs of Health insurance exchanges,
‘Medicare For All’ is also a federal level program (Congress.Gov.,
2019).
Legislative Intent The bill was initiated considering the facts of the HHS administration,
participation healthcare providers along with payments and costs for the
residents of the respective nation. The people with the age of 18 and
below can enroll in the program and after performing one year from the
beginning of the bill. Depending on the age, the individuals can select
the Medicare plan considering the transitional or expanded program
(Congress.Gov., 2019a).
Proponents/
Opponents
Proponents of ‘Medicare for All’, included Michigan Sen as along with
Debbie Stabenow, whose intention was to expand the Medicare
programs for covering all the lawful citizens of the United States of all
age groups instead of only emphasizing individuals with the age of 65
years and above (Gupta, 2019).
On the other hand, some of the opponents such as Vermont Sen and
Bernie Sanders were focused on pushing for the bill to be congested with
© 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 1
Legislation Comparison
Grid Template

providing services to only the age group of 65 and more (Gupta, 2019).
Target Population Basically, all of the age groups can be considered to be the target
population of ‘Medical For All’. However, one-third of the total
population of the United States is uninsured, accounting for 28 million
people. Conversely, in excess of 85 million people, who are restricted by
their treatment because of their financial condition, are the major target
of this medical plan. With the assistance of this universal coverage,
people intend to be acquainted with the regular healthcare facilities,
which is further helpful in maintaining chronic health diseases and
develop the entire health outcomes (Higginbotham, 2019).
Status of the bill
(Is it in hearings or
committees? Is it
receiving press
coverage?)
The bill has been introduced on 10th April 2019 by Congress. The bill is
in the first stage of its legislative obligations. To enact the bill, it is
essential to be considered by the committee of the Senate, which will be
sent to the authority. According to Skopos Labs, there is a chance of
only 3% for the Act to be passed (GovTrack.us, 2019).
General
Notes/Comments
The purpose of the ‘Medicare For All’ bill is to serve people for the
betterment of human beings by offering cost-effective medical services,
especially to those people who are financially unstable and cannot bear
expensive treatments. Although the Act has not been passed yet, but will
definitely improve the health outcomes of the residents of the United
States.
© 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 2

Part 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement
Testimony in Support of the Bill
My name is Z and I represent ABC. I am here to support the ‘Medical For
All’Bill. This bill is important due to the fact that it helps in providing adequate
healthcare to evety citizen in the country (man, child, and women) without any out-of-
pocket expenses. This bill can also help in reducing the burden of insurance premiums,
cop-payments, and deductibles. Healthcare is the right of all the citizens and not just a
few lucky ones. This bill can further help in reducing racial disparity along with the high
cost treatments, and prevent banktuptcies.
Thank you.
Addressing Opponent
Healthcare is a human right and should be given to all the citizens and not just to
people, who are either 65 years of age or above. For example, Vermont Sen along with
Bernie Sanders has been pushing forward so that all the citizens and lawful citizens are
able to receive medicare. However, Michigan Sen and Debbie Stabenow are focusing on
covering people between the age group of 55 years and 65 years old. Since healthcare is a
fundamental right, everyone must be given equal opportunity to receive it, irrespective of
race and racial background.
One Amendment to the Bill
The ‘Medicare For All’ bill focuses on providing non-discrimination healthcare to
all the citizens. The bill states that the patients are not to be discriminated. However, it
© 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 3

includes categories such as gender identity, sexual orientation, and sex stereotyping.
Hence, this particular aspect needs to be amended in the bill.
© 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 4

References
Higginbotham, T. (2018, March 12). Medicare for All is even better than you thought.
Retrieved December 21, 2019, from https://jacobinmag.com/2018/12/medicare-
for-all-study-peri-sanders?
__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=3e43ee12cf4f075ffa1f0e660855334b5a4c7d0d-
1576932155-0-AWf7jqTihgs0jzq6tQyRH6BFzEteF-
rDW3bUjF6Sk_V9aDY5FEO5AhKrrvC702FEzaXOwYTAe2iHcKkHZTYOd60
c-4W4FKlByKAz0MNSuI7lMtpayGf7Ic7cmGm7ayrIgfEeyWOMee6g-
veQhlfIfDH8i9-znnAPp9FUoITT2mZMnd-PlBl-
UTVi1XwGJtaENv0gXLsWtyoMIVUNaYwxqici6FO1JuoNxSz2cO5gnCt4E3a3
AIg4-xhxqZ5Zlyq2w54AqGkAhN-ktl3-55hxzReCDKq-
NbYb3RsaIXLxsg1_tfcc1_wZHKg00vfttWpSUKAAe3CY8eYVyb9uO9UK9dYr
1CGp7gBp7j6klCXFEN355Vm6hkdRWZgKEvWf8qJtfQ
Congress.Gov. (2019, February 27). H.R.1384 - Medicare for All Act of 2019. Retrieved
December 21, 2019, from https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-
bill/1384
Congress.Gov. (2019a, April 04). S.1129 - Medicare for All Act of 2019. Retrieved
December 21, 2019, from https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-
bill/1129?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%221129%22%5D%7D&r=7
GovTrack.us. (2019, April 10). S. 1129: Medicare for All Act of 2019. Retrieved
December 21, 2019, from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s1129
© 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 5

Gupta, S. (2019, July 2). What 'Medicare for All' means, politically and practically.
Retrieved December 21, 2019, from
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/25/health/what-does-medicare-for-all-mean/
index.html
© 2018 Laureate Education Inc. 6