NNU and 335+ groups urge passage of Medicare for All

National Nurses United and more than 335 organizations have released an open letter urging leaders who want to reform the health care system to support Medicare for All. The coalition includes labor unions, advocates for seniors and people with disabilities, women’s rights organizations, and other groups. The letter argues that now is the time to pursue a guaranteed health care system rather than smaller changes to the current structure.

The letter was authored by National Nurses United, Public Citizen, People’s Action Institute, Social Security Works, Physicians for a National Health Program, Labor Campaign for Single Payer, and Healthcare-NOW. Among the groups listed as signatories are Indivisible, MoveOn, and several major labor unions, including UAW, APWU, IFPTE, AFA-CWA, UE, and Actors Equity.

Jamie Brown, RN and NNU president, said nurses, doctors, and patients all want every person to get the care they need when they need it, without fear of cost or corporations standing in the way. Brown said that is the difference between guaranteed health care through Medicare for All and what the group described as the so-called public option. Brown also said that at this moment in history, it is more urgent than ever to fight together in solidarity and demand a guaranteed health care system with Medicare for All.

The release says Medicare for All is popular nationwide and has majority support. It cites 63 percent support among all voters and 90 percent among Democratic voters. It also says more than half of the House Democratic Caucus now supports Medicare for All, and that Senate legislation has gained three additional cosponsors since the last Congress.

The letter was released as some Washington, D.C., insiders are urging Congress and health care advocates to focus on small adjustments to the current system. The coalition says only structural change on the scale of Medicare for All can meet the country’s health care crisis. The release points to rising health care costs and says affordability remains a major concern for U.S. families, especially with the 2026 midterms approaching.

An excerpt from the letter says there may be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to legislate on health care in 2029. It says supporters should rally behind Medicare for All as the boldest possible reform and the broadest possible movement. The letter adds that this is not the time for overly complex incremental measures that maintain the same systems the writers say are failing under current political attacks. It argues that people in the United States are looking for leaders willing to take on powerful interests and fight for working people.

The excerpt also says support for Medicare for All is growing in communities and in Congress. It describes Medicare for All as the best path forward and says its promise is simple: everybody in, nobody out. The letter says some skeptical health care policy experts may argue that structural change is not winnable, but it contends that alternative proposals do not move the country toward Medicare for All, make an already broken system more complicated, and allow corporations to keep profiting from the sick.

National Nurses United says it is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States, with more than 225,000 members nationwide. Its affiliates include the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, the DC Nurses Association, the Michigan Nurses Association, the Minnesota Nurses Association, and the New York State Nurses Association.