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Comment by abootstrapper | Hacker News Reader

You could vote for reps that believe in universal healthcare or at least support ACA. Those reps will overwhelmingly be democrats. So vote D down the ballet.

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I live in Brooklyn. What now.

You can still volunteer to help drive the vote in swing states! https://votesaveamerica.com/adopt-a-state/

There are very few people in the political system even in the Democratic Party that want to fix this. Healthcare companies and insurance providers are big donors to many people on that side of the aisle. Bernie was the best chance of that this year, but instead we arrived at an openly corporatist candidate who is vehemently against any real reform of the medical system. Admire your optimism though.

Passing any change in the US healthcare system requires consensus across the House, the Senate, and the Executive Branch, so it is by no means a one-person job.

Bernie favoured the radical overhaul it frankly needs. But if you can't get that, any progress is still progress.

California has a Democratic governor and Democratic super-majorities in both the state assembly and senate. Even with total control in the state, they won't go after something as uniformly reviled as balance billing:

https://stateofreform.com/news/california/2019/07/california...

Why expect more progress at the federal level?

Healthcare for the Democrats is like guns for Republicans. It's too useful as a wedge issue they can use to scare voters to the polls. They're more interested in yelling about what the other side will than passing the legislation they promise.

I couldn't agree with this more. Healthcare costs have increased unabated since the passage of the ACA. Make all the noise you want about Republicans attacking the bill at lower levels of government, it's ultimately the Democrats who didn't pass a public option, and more damningly, it's the Democrats who wouldn't pass Medicare for All. There's no interest in actually solving the issue when they make so much money off the system as it exists.

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