Isle rally pushes Medicare for all

Around 20 people rallied Monday on behalf of the Hawaii Democratic Party for a bill in Congress that would provide Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors, to Americans from birth.

The Democratic Party’s health committee led the event in hopes of gaining support for the bill from Hawaii’s congressional delegation, specifically U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, said rally organizer Dennis B. Miller. U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard already supports the bill.

Americans are currently eligible for Medicare at age 65. Miller said if Medicare were made available to all, it would lower the cost of health care.

“What Medicare does is it provides health care with a 2 percent administrative overhead. Private health insurance provides health care with a 35 percent administrative overhead,” Miller said.

Medicare doesn’t fully cover prescription drugs and long-term care, high-cost items that many struggle to purchase, he added. “They have to get private insurance to fill in the gaps.”

The “March for Medicare” rally was held outside the Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Federal Building.

On Tuesday the U.S. Senate voted to move forward with legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

The vote was 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie after two Republicans joined all 48 Democrats in voting “no.”

The senators haven’t agreed on what would replace the current health care law.

Still, President Donald Trump praised the senators for moving forward.

“I’m very happy to announce that, with zero of the Democrats’ votes, the motion to proceed on health care has just passed. And now we move forward toward truly great health care for the American people,” Trump said. “This was a big step.”