Above: Medicare for All Advocates marching. By Molly Adams from Flickr.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) recently rolled out House Democrats’ version of a Medicare for All proposal that would ensure all Americans have guaranteed healthcare.
The bill (H.R. 1384) has an impressive 106 co-sponsors, and has been called “the most ambitious Medicare-for-All plan yet” by Vox, which also reported the benefits the House bill contained were even more significant than the companion bill Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) first introduced in his chamber. Under Jayapal’s plan, private, for-profit health insurance plans would be eliminated, and all Americans would be covered by a government-administered single-payer healthcare plan.
Additionally, Rep. Jayapal’s bill — the Medicare for All Act of 2019 — calls for a two-year transition from the current system to the one she proposes, rather than a four-year transition, as Sanders proposed. The House bill would put everyone under the age of 19 and over the age of 55 on the single-payer plan after one year, and then everyone in between the following year.
“We will be pushing it as hard as we can and as fast as we can,” Rep. Jayapal said. “Enough nibbling around the edges. We really need to transform the system.”
Should the House bill become law, the system that would replace Medicaid and Medicare (healthcare programs for veterans and Indigenous peoples would remain) would provide even more coverage than the universal healthcare system in Canada, as Jayapal’s plan would cover long-term care services for nursing services. Americans would no longer have to come up with emergency room co-pays or fees for doctor’s visits. The only out-of-pocket spending would be on prescription drugs — which would come at a lower price due to the government negotiating on patients’ behalf.
However impressive 106 House Democrats co-sponsoring the bill may be, that number falls short of the 218 votes needed for a bill to pass the House of Representatives with a majority vote. Even though there are 235 House Democrats, 112 of the 130 House Democrats currently not listed as co-sponsors on Rep. Jayapal’s bill would need to come on board in order for the bill to be able to pass the chamber and go to the Senate.
As Grit Post reported last year, private health insurance companies (and pharmaceutical drug manufacturers) were spending big on making sure that Senate Democrats up for re-election in competitive races would allow the for-profit system to remain in place. And according to new research, it appears that the healthcare industry’s robust election spending also benefited House Democrats.
Using campaign finance data made publicly available by the Center for Responsive Politics, Grit Post calculated that donors in the insurance and pharmaceutical industries gave a combined $43,740,947 in career campaign donations to the 130 House Democrats who have not yet signed on as co-sponsors to Rep. Jayapal’s bill. House Democrats received anywhere from $9,570 in financial support from pharma and insurance to $3.2 million, depending on the member.
Of those 130 House Democrats not yet co-sponsoring the Medicare for All Act of 2019, 48 of them were elected in the “blue wave” of 2018. Additionally, not one member of House Democrats’ leadership has co-sponsored the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland), House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina), and House Democratic Caucus chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) have all received generous donations from pharma and insurance (Hoyer alone received more than $2.5 million in career donations) throughout their Congressional careers.
Below are the names of all 130 House Democrats not co-sponsoring H.R. 1384, in alphabetical order. In some cases, donor data is not available, as that member is brand-new to Congress and their campaign finance reports have not yet been added to the OpenSecrets.org database. In other cases, like that of Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii), members’ data is incomplete, as they have been redistricted to a new district, leaving a gap in campaign finance data.
Notations have also been made for House Democrats whose top donors are from the insurance and/or pharma industries. A star* denotes House Democratic leadership.
Press ctrl+f (or command+f on Mac) and type your representative’s name to see if they’re on this list.
1. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-California)
2. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas)
3. Rep. Cynthia Axne (D-Iowa)
(No data available)
4. Rep. Ami Bera (D-California)
5. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Georgia)
6. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware)
7. Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-New York)
8. Rep. Julia Brownley (D-California)
9. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Illinois)
10. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina)
Pharma is #1 career donor
11. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-California)
12. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-California)
Pharma is #1 career donor
13. Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii)
$3,500 from insurance since 2017, no previous data available (Case has been in office since 2002)
14. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Illinois)
15. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Florida)
16. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas)
17. Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-California)
*18. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina)
19. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia)
20. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tennessee)
21. Rep. Lou Correa (D-California)
22. Rep. Jim Costa (D-California)
23. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Connecticut)
24. Rep. TJ Cox (D-California)
25. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minnesota)
26. Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Florida)
27. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colorado)
28. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas)
29. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland)
30. Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-South Carolina)
31. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas)
32. Rep. Susan Davis (D-California)
33. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pennsylvania)
34. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut)
35. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Washington)
36. Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-New York)
37. Rep. Val Demings (D-Florida)
$59,335 since 2011 (2011-2017 data unavailable)
38. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Florida)
39. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)
40. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-California)
pharma is #1 donor
41. Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pennsylvania)
42. Rep. Abbie Finkenauer (D-Iowa)
43. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas)
44. Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois)
45. Rep. John Garamendi (D-California)
46. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas)
47. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey)
48. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticut)
49. Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Oklahoma)
50. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nevada)
51. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania)
*52. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland)
*53. House Democratic Caucus chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York)
54. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas)
55. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio)
56. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Michigan)
57. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Washington)
58. Rep. Andy Kim (D-New Jersey)
59. Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisconsin)
Insurance is #1 donor
Pharma is #3 donor
60. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois)
61. Rep. Ann Kuster (D-New Hampshire)
62. Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pennsylvania)
63. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Washington)
64. Rep. John Larson (D-Connecticut)
Insurance is #1 donor
65. Rep. Al Lawson (D-Florida)
66. Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nevada)
67. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Illinois)
68. Rep. David Loebsack (D-Iowa)
69. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California)
70. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-California)
71. Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)
72. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Virginia)
73. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts)
74. Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-New Jersey)
75. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-New York)
76. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-California)
77. Rep. Ben McAdams (D-Utah)
78. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Georgia)
79. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota)
80. Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Virginia)
81. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisconsin)
Insurance is #1 donor
82. Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-New York)
83. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts)
84. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Florida)
85. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Florida)
86. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts)
Insurance is #1 donor
Pharma is #4 donor
87. Rep. Donald Norcross (D-New Jersey)
88. Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Arizona)
89. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey)
Pharma is #2 donor
90. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-New Hampshire)
91. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-New Jersey)
*92. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California)
93. Rep. Scott Peters (D-California)
94. Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota)
95. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minnesota)
96. Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands)
97. Rep. David Price (D-North Carolina)
98. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Illinois)
99. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-New York)
100. Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-Louisiana)
101. Rep. Max Rose (D-New York)
102. Rep. Harley Rouda (D-California)
103. Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-California)
104. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Maryland)
105. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pennsylvania)
106. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Illinois)
107. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Oregon)
Pharma is #2 donor
108. Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Washington)
109. Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia)
Insurance is #2 donor
110. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Alabama)
Insurance is #2 donor
111. Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Florida)
112. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California)
113. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-New Jersey)
114. Rep. Albio Sires (D-New Jersey)
115. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan)
116. Rep. Darren Soto (D-Florida)
117. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia)
118. Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Arizona)
119. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Michigan)
120. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-New York)
121. Rep. Norma Torres (D-California)
122. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-New Mexico)
123. Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Massachusetts)
124. Rep. David Trone (D-Maryland)
125. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Illinois)
126. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-New Jersey)
127. Rep. Juan Vargas (D-California)
Insurance is #1 donor
128. Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas)
129. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida)
130. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky)
Carl Gibson is a politics contributor for Grit Post. His work has previously been published in The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Houston Chronicle, Al-Jazeera America, and NPR, among others. Follow him on Twitter @crgibs or send him an email at carl at gritpost dot com.