You'll find a link to watch this special, “US Healthcare After Covid: What’s Next & How Could It Be Better?,” and episode notes posted at Patreon.com/theLFShow  along with an invitation to join guests and Laura for a live premiere and chat event to view this week’s episode . 

The Medicare for All Act was reintroduced into the U.S. House in March with a record number of cosponsors and public support. But while the idea of a public single payer system has never been more popular, the relationship of Americans to their healthcare has never been more fraught. With over 500,000 Americans dead from Covid-19 and millions without access to coverage, it's clear that we need change. But what sort of change? Laura speaks with health economist Dana Brown and two outspoken nurses in public hospitals, one in Veterans Affairs, who know intimately the pros and cons of the American healthcare system. We praised nurses loudly in the last year but will we listen to them, now, on what needs to be done next to make US healthcare better for patients, caregivers, and everyone?    Music in the Middle:  “America’s Real Pandemic” by Mikki Afflick featuring Janine 'Sugah Lyrics' Lyons courtesy of Soul Sun Soul Music.

Today we’ll talk with economist Dana Brown who comes to us from the Democracy Collaborative where she’ s Director of the Next Systems Project.  She argues that the United States already has a public model that works.  It’s not perfect but we don’t have to import a system from elsewhere. And we’ll hear from two nurses who know intimately the pros and cons of our current system.  Linda Ward Smith is a department of Veterans Affairs Nurse, and  President of the American Federation of Government Employees, (AFGE)  Local 1224, representing 3,000 nurses in Las Vegas.  And Kelley Cabrera is an emergency room nurse at Jacobi, a public hospital in the Bronx, New York. She’s a member and lead bargainer for her unit of the New York State Nurses Association or NYSNA.

Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner. 

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ACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel