These are the meting notes taken at the inaugural Houston DSA Medicare for All Working Group meeting. This group was created to work on advancing Medicare for All in the Houston area as a part of a national campaign that was voted on at the DSA Convention in August 2017.

• The group decided to meet every 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7pm. Location of each meeting will be announced.
• Amy and Steve will serve as temporary co-chairs until February
• The group drafted a resolution to submit to the next Houston DSA General Meeting in December. It is as below. Houston DSA members can submit amendments to this resolution up to Wednesday, November 22 by sending an email to houstontxdsa(at)gmail.com, Subject Line: “Medicare for All Resolution”.

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Resolution for Houston DSA to Endorse DSA’s National Medicare for All Campaign

Whereas, health care in the United States remains disgraceful with the highest costs in the world and ten of millions of Americans having no health insurance coverage at all;

Whereas, the cost of health insurance continues to rise while worker’s wages and benefits continue to stagnate or fall;

Whereas, these high costs and meager coverage do not contribute to higher health outcomes with the United States ranking lowest in the world when compared to similar countries;

Whereas, the current healthcare system encourages corporate profiteering by extracting wealth from working Americans who continue to pay an ever-higher share of their health insurance;

Whereas, the socialization of health insurance is a primary socialist demand in the pursuit of health care as a social right;

Whereas, the establishment of a Medicare for All system in the United States will abolish a substantial section of capital while liberating millions of workers who are currently dependent on their employers for health insurance;

Whereas, workers with Medicare for All will not only have greater security in access to care for themselves and their families, but also greater flexibility to fight capital in their workplace by going out on strike, challenging their bosses, and organizing with their co-workers;

Whereas, Medicare for All is a popular working class demand that is egalitarian and will especially benefit those that are disproportionately excluded under the current, for-profit health care system, including working class women, low-income workers, unemployed and underemployed people, immigrants and disabled people, people of color, and LGBTQ people;

Whereas, the Medicare for All campaign represents a major opportunity to build relationships and forge solidarity with the leading edge of the labor movement, including over 1,000 national, regional, and local unions, state labor federations, and central labor councils have endorsed Medicare for All and organizations like the National Nurses United, the Labor Campaign for Single-Payer, and Physicians for a National Health Program;

Whereas, by participating actively in a national campaign, DSA chapters across the country will build connections with one another, grow local capacities, and develop a well organized political bloc and national force;

Therefore be it resolved that the Houston Democratic Socialists of America joins with our comrades across the country in the national DSA campaign for Medicare for All to educate, agitate, and organize for a system where health care decisions are determined by patients and their caregivers, where people come before profits, where healthcare is secured as a social right. We are committed to fighting for a system that abides by the following five principles of socialist healthcare:

1. A single program — not a patchwork of multi-payer state and federal systems.
2. Comprehensive coverage — all services requiring a medical professional will be covered.
3. Free at the point of service — financed through progressive tax contributions based on ability to pay, not shifting costs onto the sick: no fees, no copays, no cost-sharing.
4. Universal coverage — coverage for all U.S. residents — non-citizens included.
5. Jobs — severance pay and job replacement for those affected by the transition.