Medicare for All just got two new cosponsors in Congress this week: Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona’s 7th District!

For years, activists and organizations have been pushing Senator Van Hollen to sign on in support of the Senate Medicare for All bill. This win was a long time coming and the culmination of years of hard work led by a robust coalition:

• State Medicare for All activists, including NNU nurses, held a series of People's Assemblies in 2019, including one in Prince George’s County.
  
  
• State activists, led by Public Citizen, passed MFA resolutions in Baltimore County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and the cities of Baltimore, Annapolis, and Frederick, Maryland.
  
  
• Activists canvassed in key communities to build public support, called and wrote letters to Sen. Van Hollen, held community barnstorms, bird-dogged members of Congress, rallied, marched, and so much more.

Other leaders in this work included the Medicare Progressive Healthcare Coalition, Our Revolution, and PNHP — and Progressive Maryland got it over the finish line.

Last month, they organized a meeting with Sen. Van Hollen that included a diverse representation of community and labor leaders from across the state, including federal workers, health care workers, small business owners, and local elected officials. The Senator finally announced he would cosponsor the Medicare for All Act at a Progressive Maryland event last week, and he formally signed on to the bill on Tuesday.

In addition to this victory, we’re celebrating another MFA cosponsor: Rep. Adelita Grijalva. She ran on Medicare for All from the very beginning of her special election for Arizona’s 7th district, and we did a lot to support her candidacy. We’re so excited that after 7 weeks, she’s finally been sworn into office and immediately signed onto the Medicare for All Act as promised.

Sen. Van Hollen and Rep. Grijalva brings us to 107 House members and 16 senators signed on in support of creating a universal, single-payer health care system!

Let’s celebrate these wins and encourage even more politicians to get on board. Will you add your name to our message thanking Sen. Van Hollen and Rep. Grijalva for cosponsoring Medicare for All?

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This is how we grow the political will to get Medicare for All passed: building pressure on sitting elected officials and helping elect new candidates who support Medicare for All in their platforms. Let’s keep it up until both the House and Senate versions of this legislation have enough votes to become law!

In solidarity,

National Nurses United