The Road to Medicare for All

The United States spends substantially more on health care than other wealthy nations, yet it has poorer health outcomes. The Road to Medicare for All: A Call to Action analyzes the dysfunction of the current system and sets forth the solution. With the question of health care at a pivotal juncture, this book provides a roadmap toward making health care a right, not a privilege. It inoculates readers against the arguments and tactics used by the monied interests to defeat a single-payer system. The Road to Medicare for All explains that the nation was heading in the right direction until the monied interests drove the nation off the road. This book details how the nation can get back on track and finally reach the destination of universal, single-payer health insurance. Nancy J. Altman puts forward a call to action for every American and spotlights how the American people are united in their readiness to improve Medicare and expand it to everyone. Written by a national leader in research and advocacy, this book is highly informative to both experts and the general public. It is essential reading for students of medical sociology, aging and gerontology, health policy, public health, the politics of US health care, public administration, and political science.

Nancy J. Altman, a tax lawyer and a former Harvard University faculty member who has worked in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, has a 50-year background in the areas of Social Security, Medicare, private pensions, and related programs. She is the President of Social Security Works and Chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition. Altman, the author of four previous books, has appeared on PBS NewsHour, MSNBC, and FOX News. She has published op-eds in dozens of newspapers including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

1. Where We're Going and How We're Getting There; Part I: Traveling in the Right Direction Until We Weren't; 2. Slow Progress in the Right Direction: Mighty Struggles and Important Victories, 1906 to 1972; 3. Run Off the Road: The Empire Strikes Back, 1972 to Today; Part II: Getting Back on the Right Road; 4. The Current Road: How We Got Here and Why Exiting It is Essential; 5. The Right Destination: Improved Medicare For All; Part III: Reaching Our Destination Without Getting Lost Again; 6. Our Roadmap and Our GPS: Navigating the Political Landscape; 7. The Road Ahead: Avoiding the Landmines in Our Path; 8. We Will Reach Our Improved Medicare for All Destination if We All Do Our Part