Bringing our fight against CVS to the media
Ever since we found out that CVS has been funding anti-Medicare for All lobbyists we have been on their case. We’ve challenged them on social media, and targeted their stores again and again.
Most recently we have been challenging them in black and white, on the pages of our local newspapers across the country. Nurses and other supporters of Medicare for All have been writing to their local papers, highlighting the link between CVS, the dark money lobbying group the Partnership for America’s Healthcare Future, and politicians who block the passage of health care reform.
These letters tell the story of why we need Medicare for All…
“As a registered nurse, I am deeply disturbed that over 27 million people lost their employer-sponsored health insurance when they lost their jobs when businesses closed due to the pandemic. It drove home to me what I’ve experienced during my 46 years caring for patients in Philadelphia hospitals. Too many disadvantaged people fall through the cracks because of our profit driven health care system.” — Marie E Kelly, Springfield, PA — NNU member
“In the last 45 years of working in health care, most of it as a physician, I have realized that the quality of health care would improve, and the cost decrease, if we had a single payer health care system. While most other developed nations have national health care, and seventy percent of U. S. citizens support Medicare for All, it was a mystery to me why the USA does not have health care for every citizen. It has become clear that some of our health care corporations are actively working against health care reform.” — Lonnie Weinheimer, Silver Spring, MD
“Recently, I was treated for an infection (not Covid) with a common antibiotic that should be fairly inexpensive. But I received a bill for over $5,000. The cost is so high because Medicare is barred from negotiating prices with drug companies even though Medicaid and the VA can negotiate lower prices. This is pure exploitation and needs to be fixed. The best way to do so, is for the U.S. to adopt Medicare for All. 70% of Americans support Medicare for All, but powerful corporate interests are determined to block it.” — William Bianchi, Chicago, IL
They explain why we are targeting CVS:
“As a retired nurse… I’m deeply concerned that CVS Health has taken a shocking position against fixing our broken health care system…A health care-related company’s efforts to undermine our ability to improve health in order to enrich itself is hypocrisy of the grandest order.” — Tanya Wagner, M.Ed., R.N. (ret.), Hampden Township, Pa.
“For-profit corporations, like CVS, are bankrolling lobbyists to keep Medicare for All off the table. Why am I picking on CVS in particular? Because for over 30 years, the local CVS has been my pharmacy! I know, like, and trust the pharmacist and the techs, but I feel betrayed by their employer! Since CVS bought the private insurer Aetna, it is now the biggest health care company in the U.S., and it has a vested interest in blocking Medicare for All. CVS is using profits from the money you and I pay them to subsidize dark money PACs like the Partnership for America’s Healthcare Future. And here I thought CVS was concerned about my health and well-being. Shame on you, CVS!” — Marnie Thompson, Greensboro NC
“While claiming to care about our health, I recently discovered that CVS, in fact, is a major funder of PAHCF. As it turns out, CVS–what I thought of as my neighborhood pharmacy — actually owns Aetna, the third largest private health insurance company in the U.S. So CVS actually brings drug company and insurance company greed together under one roof” — Vickie Mueller Olvera, San Jose, CA
And how they are bankrolling the Partnership:
“The Partnership for America’s Healthcare Future is the number one dark money lobbying group fighting Medicare for All and all health care reform. Over the past year, Congress has attempted to enact reforms to our broken system, but large and powerful corporations have blocked it at every turn.” — Scott Johnson, Auburn, CA
“I recently learned that CVS, my go-to pharmacy, is bankrolling a dark money lobbying group that is fighting against Medicare for All. The Partnership for America’s Healthcare Future spends massive amounts of money paying off politicians to protect corporate bottom lines over the health of patients. CVS claims to care about patient’s health, but clearly cares more about their profits.” — Gwen D’Arcangelis, Chicago, Il
All of our letters have the same demand.
“I understand that you must consider bottom line profit, but at what cost? How can you participate in killing Medicare for All when it would save so many lives? I implore you to cut ties immediately with this dark money group. How can we ever trust you if you do not?” — Connie Lantz, Longview, WA
“I demand that CVS Health cut ties with the Partnership for America’s Healthcare Future, as well as other corporate interests fighting health care reform, immediately.” — Joanna F Welch, Eureka, CA
Our letters have a dual purpose. Firstly, we want to shine a spotlight onto the murky world of corporate dark money lobbyists and show the public what CVS and the Partnership are doing to make our country a less healthy and less democratic place. Secondly, our letters are speaking directly to CVS: we are demanding that they cut their ties with the Partnership. We are going to keep demanding they do this until we have guarantees. And we will keep on coming up with more creative ways to do it. So, what do you say CVS? Are you going to cut ties with the Partnership?
Our campaign against CVS is part of our bigger plan to win Medicare for All. Nurses have been leading the fight for Medicare for All for decades because we know it’s the only way to build a future where everyone has the right to health care, and nurses are free to care for patients without constraints imposed by profit-driven corporations.
Our grassroots campaign for Medicare for All has grown by leaps and bounds, leading to unprecedented support in Congress. But we know that if we want to win, we need to directly take on the health care corporations that are trying to stop us. And that starts with CVS.
Join us! Click here for all the information you need to write your own letter to the editor about CVS.
