FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 23, 2020
Mermell Releases Bold Plans for Equitable COVID-19 Recovery and Affordable Health Care System
BROOKLINE – Jesse Mermell, continuing to establish herself as the leading progressive running for Congress with bold policy ideas, today released two policy plans for implementing an equitable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and an affordable, accessible health care system.
Mermell underscored that the two plans are intricately connected – full recovery from COVID-19 requires an overhaul of our broken health care system, which has made the crisis worse, particularly for communities of color and low income communities that already experienced disparate health outcomes due to centuries of systemic racism, discrimination, and bad policy decisions.
“Donald Trump is actively undermining our recovery efforts from a pandemic that has killed 120,000 Americans and counting,” said Mermell. “Just this weekend, he bragged at a rally that he actually slowed down testing so there would be fewer confirmed cases.
“The only way we are going to chart a path forward out of this crisis is to ensure that our response is rooted in equity and centers the most vulnerable – the communities and workers being disproportionately impacted by this crisis as a result of deep inequities that have existed for centuries and that are being exacerbated by Donald Trump’s failures. My plan does just that.”
Mermell’s COVID-19 recovery plan calls for:
- Building a real federal COVID-19 response by ensuring frontline workers have PPE, ramping up testing, contact tracing and treatment, centering voices of frontline workers in the re-opening process and preparing for resurgences or future public health crises.
- Building a fair economy by implementing a national paid leave program, providing financial stability for workers and families, providing additional aid to cities and states, getting meaningful relief to small businesses, implementing an emergency Medicare program, providing affordable early education and child care, enacting a national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions, and supporting the economy throughout the re-opening phases.
- Protecting our democracy and vulnerable populations by adopting vote-by-mail and minimizing risk in the criminal justice system.
Her full recovery plan can be read here.
Mermell also noted that a key part of recovering from COVID-19 is ensuring an affordable and accessible health care system and released a plan to expand coverage and lower costs.
“Through the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen how our broken health care system is failing too many people and isn’t working for many who need it most,” said Mermell. “Millions of Americans have lost their health care in the middle of a pandemic because they lost their jobs. Many more can’t afford to get care because they don’t have adequate coverage – or any coverage at all. This is a shameful failure for one of the wealthiest nations in the world, and it’s because of Donald Trump and his Republican cronies’ clear disregard for science and human life. We need a complete overhaul of our health care system, and my plan outlines how to do that.”
Mermell’s health care plan calls for:
- Passing Medicare for All.
- Reducing prescription drug prices.
- Addressing the social determinants of health.
- Ending the opioid epidemic.
- Treating mental health as critical care.
- Improving health outcomes for the LGBTQ+ community.
- Ensuring every child has access to quality health care
Her full health care plan can be found here.
Mermell knows that centering vulnerable populations and equity is key to recovery, so she will continue to push forward on her plans to fight for reproductive justice, tackle the climate crisis through an environmental justice lens, create a fair economy, invest in safe and reliable public transit, advance an equitable agenda for education, ensure access to safe and affordable housing, combat the gun violence epidemic, and address the systemic racism and inequity in our systems.