Democratic Candidates For The 13th Congressional District All Want Single Payer Health Law

The five Democrats running to be the next representative in the 13th Congressional District all want to expand the Affordable Care Act to a single-payer system. 

Candidates, David Gill, Betsy Dirkensen-Londrigan, Erik Jones, Jonathan Ebel and Angel Sides agree that the ACA was a good first start.

Dirksen-Londrigan says any health care reform needs to include reigning in pharmaceutical profits. "We consume 8% of pharmaceuticals sold worldwide, but we account for 55% of the profits," she commented.

Jones thinks the government needs to open up its health programs, like Medicaid, for everyone to purchase. "So people can buy into those programs so we can start moving quickly as possible to universal coverage," he said.

The five Democrats are running in the March 2018 primary. The winner will oppose incumbent Republican Rodney Davis next November. 

All five candidates appeared at the Champaign County Young Democrats forum last week.