Rep. Jayapal: ‘Nobody Likes Their Private Insurance Plan’

JAYAPAL: "I would just say, first of all, nobody likes their private insurance plan. What they like is their doctor. If you look at all the polling, when people are asked if they want to give up their private insurance, the support goes down a little. If you take them to the next question, which is, 'if you could keep your doctor, but you were going to have to give up your private insurance plan, the support goes up even higher, including among independents and Republicans. So what people want is health care. And the current plans, the employer-provided health care, even if you’re lucky enough to have that, you are seeing costs increase dramatically. It is why unions have come onboard to Medicare for all, because they see the direct connection between wage stagnation and rising health care costs, and what choice do you really have if you have an employer-covered plan? Your employer chooses the plan. Your insurance provider decides what benefits and what doctors and hospitals you get to see, why we have horrible surprise billing that is happening across the country, and if you lose your job or if you’re too sick to go to work, you’ve got no health care at all.”