Yesterday was an important day for the single payer movement.  We launched the “Physicians’ Proposal for Single-Payer Health Care Reform” at a 1 PM press conference at the National Press Club in Washington.  Dr. Robert Zarr, president of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), presided.  Participants (from left to right in this photo tweeted by AMSA President Kelly Thibert) included co-founder of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group Dr. Sidney Wolfe, National Nurses United Co-President Karen Higgins, Dr. Claudia Fegan, Dr. Zarr, myself, and Dr. Steffie Woolhandler:

Everybody in, nobody out! #SinglePayer #HCFA @AMSANational @PNHP pic.twitter.com/zatk4WtF5e

— Kelly Thibert (@KTOTUS) May 5, 2016

The Physicians Proposal is a detailed blueprint for a single payer system, as well as a comprehensive critique of the shortcomings of our current system.  It was formulated by a 39 member working group, co-chaired by Dr. Marcia Angell, Dr. David Himmelstein, Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, and myself.  It was published yesterday alongside an editorial we wrote in the American Journal of Public Health.  The proposal is available here (and is open for more endorsements), and the AJPH editorial is open-access and available here.

The release has gotten some good coverage so far, including in:

US News & World Report (“Doctor Group Pushes for ‘Single-Payer’ Model”)

The Guardian (“‘We need fundamental changes’: US doctors call for universal healthcare”)

The Washington Post (“2,000 doctors say Bernie Sanders has the right approach to health care”)

The Hill (“More than 2,000 doctors join call for single-payer healthcare”)

Morning Consult  (“More Than 2,000 Doctors Back National Single-Payer Proposal”)

I also had the opportunity to discuss single payer on Thom Hartmann’s show “The Big Picture,” which aired at 7 PM last night:

The fight for universal health care in America continues.