In 2009 when Washington was debating Obamacare, Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said everything was on the table — except for single payer. When doctors, nurses and others rose in his hearing to insist that single payer be included in the debate, Baucus had them arrested.

But when Senator Baucus needed a solution to a catastrophic health disaster in Libby, Montana, and surrounding Lincoln County, he turned to the nation’s single-payer health care system, Medicare, to solve the problem. Baucus slipped into the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare) a provision that gave Medicare to everyone exposed to asbestos in Libby. He did it without a single hearing, without a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score, and without a single cost offset. That’s how Libby, home to one of the worst man-made corporate environmental disasters in American history, became the only town in America with Medicare for All.

Recently, the pro-labor group, More Perfect Union, went to Libby to make a video that showed how covering everyone in Libby with Medicare has radically changed the lives of local residents and even changed the mind of Senator Baucus about single payer.

Enjoy and share!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyqDEWF9_2c

2022-02-06