Partners for Dignity & Rights sent the following letter to Members of Congress asking them to join Representative Ro Khanna in co-sponsoring the State-Based Universal Health Care Act, which would make it much easier for states to implement universal, publicly financed health care.

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Dear Representative Clyburn:

We at Partners for Dignity & Rights, a human rights organization working to secure health care as a human right for everyone in the United States, are writing to ask you to join Congressman Ro Khanna in co-sponsoring the State-Based Universal Health Care Act of 2021 (SBUHCA). The SBUHCA would make it easier for South Carolina and other states to obtain the federal waivers they would need to create a statewide universal, publicly financed health care system. The Act would not require the states to take any action: it would simply remove the bureaucratic barriers that make it difficult for them to redirect federal funds if their legislature decides to create a unified, streamlined public program.

As COVID-19 has made clear, people across South Carolina and the rest of the country are incredibly vulnerable. Unforeseen medical needs, job losses and other events can upend people’s lives literally overnight. Even before the pandemic, 40 million people were uninsured at some point each year, 50 million were in medical debt, and 60 million were insured yet still priced out of care. People are demanding action. With both our health and our democracy at risk, Congress should make sure that South Carolina and other state legislatures have every option available to them in the years ahead.

Please let us know if you will join Congressman Khanna as an original co-sponsor of the State-Based Universal Health Care Act. You can refer to the attached information for more details on the bill or can contact Will McKelvey, Legislative Assistant to Rep. Khanna, or Ben Palmquist, Health Care Program Director at Partners for Dignity & Rights.

We are committed to ensuring that health care is guaranteed as a human right to everyone and that South Carolina is able to fulfill the will of its people, and hope you will join us in taking this important step.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kenyon Farrow & Liz Sullivan-Yuknis, Co-Executive Directors