Cathy Glasson
One of the Democrats running for governor today said if Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders isn’t successful in getting “Medicare for All” passed nationally, “Iowa should lead the way to universal health care.”
Cathy Glasson of Coralville is a nurse who is president of the local union that represents staff in the University of Iowa Hospitals. Iowans are “ready to rise up” for a single payer health care system, according to Glasson.
“We have 381,000 households in our state that struggle to pay their monthly bills and two-thirds of the jobs in our state pay less than $20 an hour,” Glasson said this past Sunday during a Progress Iowa event. “The unemployment rate may be low, but the misery index is high.”
AUDIO of Glasson’s speech at the Progress Iowa Corn Feed, 4:46
In a statement issued this morning, Glasson said as an ICU nurse, she’s seen how Iowans are hurt if they don’t have health coverage.
“Hurt by a health care system that costs too much, cares too little and puts profits at the top before patients every single time,” Glasson said during her Sunday speech. “You know, the Iowans I’m listening to are sick and tired of being beat up and they’re ready to rise up for bold, progressive change in 2018.”
A spokesman for the Republican Party of Iowa says Iowans will “take a hard pass” on a state-run “socialized medicine” system, especially if it’s financed by ending $12 billion worth of state tax credits and exemptions.
Glasson is the only one of the seven Democratic candidates for governor endorsing the “Medicare for All” bill independent Senator Bernie Sanders is introducing today in the U.S. Senate. Glasson supported Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Iowa Caucuses.