About

DUH (Demand Universal Healthcare) advocated for a National Improved Medicare for All (NIMA), which would expand the current Medicare system to provide healthcare to all Americans and it would also expand the types treatments covered by the insurance. They are a group based in Chicago, but most of their work is done through social media and their website.

Goals
  • Advocacy for National Improved Medicare for All (NIMA) a bill introduced by Representative John Conyers in 2015 that would establish a single payer health care system similar to Canada's Medicare system.   

  • Inform the general public about what universal health care actually means, how it will affect Americans across different socio-economic groups, how it can be achieved in America, and what candidates will be able to achieve it

  • Use social media to engage the general public in advocacy for universal healthcare and in increasing or changing voter turnout  

  • Encourage participation in politics through their use of social media   

  • Elect progressive legislators by endorsing candidates for the House of Representatives, Senate, State Governors, and other critical races (mayoral, state legislature, etc.)

  • Forming alliances with other groups, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the women's right movement, and the movement for HIV/AIDS research and care,  because universal healthcare affects all Americans and is inherently intersectional  

Opposition

In the United States, people with right wing ideologies tend to be the major opponents to universal healthcare since they are proponents of small governments with a limited involvement in the lives of citizens. In the United States government this takes form in the Republican Party, whose platform stance in universal health care is to oppose it and support private health care, they have proposed to privatize Social Security. In the 2016 presidential race, Republican candidates emphasized that they would repeal Obamacare (Affordable Care Act), with the term "repeal and replace" becoming prominent.

The move has grown massively over the last couple of years as more people are exposed to what universal healthcare is. A lot of the movements forces today, are dedicated to stop the Trump presidency from limiting healthcare access even further. President Trump signed an executive order in 2017 that allowed short term health insurance policies to last for up to year instead of 90 days as the Obama Administration outlined in the Affordable Care Act, however this leads to a rise in premiums for comprehensive plans. In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act repealed the tax on those who did not obtain health insurance after ACA, this leads to 13 million people dropping coverage with the removal of the incentive. In January of 2018 the Trump Administration allowed states to implement work requirements on Medicaid that will cut benefits for able-bodied people unless they have a job, are caregivers, or are in school. This policy will affect around 5% of Medicaid recipients, most of which are single adults who received benefits after ACA. The Trump Administration’s attempts to repeal-and-replace ACA in Congress have failed but they have succeeded in amending it. There are now less regulations in association health plans which allows small business to unite and purchase health insurance as if they were large employers, although cheaper they cover less.    

An unexpected oppositional force, includes others who also advocate for universal healthcare but are willing to take a slower route to get there. DUH does not have many connections with their universal healthcare advocacy groups, since DUH is explicitly against ACA and many other groups stand begind it. DUH is very clearly a Democratic Socialist movement that does not always align completely with the views of more moderate Democrat groups.

Location
#duh4all