Medicare for All has moved from radical to mainstream in a span of just months. Michael Lighty of National Nurses United joins us to talk about the role of healthcare workers in the fight for single-payer.

What a difference an election makes. What used to be unthinkable in the healthcare debate, fully universal free healthcare for all, has moved from radical to “mainstream” in a few short months. Now that Trumpcare is threatening to explode even the moderate reforms of the ACA, single-payer healthcare is now not only looking promising but possible on the national political horizon. Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced his long awaited Medicare for All single-payer bill, concretizing the vision he presented on the campaign trail for free, accessible healthcare for all. To figure out why such a common-sensical proposal took so long to be validated in Washington we talked to Michael Lighty, Director of Public Policy for National Nurses United, one of the few unions who have steadfastly championed single-payer since before it was cool. Lighty, who is also helping to lead the new Sanders Institute, a policy think tank founded and directed by Jane Sanders with Dave Driscoll, explains the role of healthcare workers in the debate and how they continue to play the long game on universal healthcare.

In other news we examine struggles for gender injustice in Silicon Valley, pushing childcare for all, striking at Spectrum Cable, and sanctuary unions for immigrants. With recommended reading on a resurgence of labor on college campuses and the reincarnation of failing charter schools.

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