{"id":27756,"date":"2026-01-12T10:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=27756"},"modified":"2026-01-12T10:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:46:08","slug":"wed-all-miss-private-health-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=27756","title":{"rendered":"We’d All Miss Private Health Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Another collab with the terrific R.E. Ryan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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“I Can’t Afford My Spleen” might be a good title for the eventual book collection.<\/p>\n

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I love the way R.E. drew this, especially the suit-and-tie guy in the last panel, with his quietly sour expression and disappointed slump.<\/p>\n

This cartoon feels a bit Doonesbury<\/em>-ish to me, particularly in the way the fourth panel works, with a extra piece of dialog following<\/em> the punchline.<\/p>\n

I have a shelf full of Doonesbury<\/em> collections that I used to reread pretty often. (As I’ve gotten older I’m rereading much less than I once did; I blame the internet. Who has time to read with the torrential flood of new content available every minute on our screens?)<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, I think Doonesbury<\/em> – which has now been running an incredible fifty-five years (although it’s now Sundays only, the other six days are reruns) is a singular achievement in cartooning. Very few daily strips have found success with such a distinctive voice and dry sense of humor. And it’s certainly been a big influence on my writing.<\/p>\n

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I admit, Medicare For All is not going to pass through Congress this year, or the next, or the year after that. But I refuse to give up – someday we could have a better Congress. And we will, almost unavoidably, have a better President. Things have changed; they can change again. (I’d kind of like that on a t-shirt.)<\/p>\n

And when that happens… then this cartoon will feel more of the moment. Whooo!<\/em><\/p>\n

(There may be other advantages as well.)<\/p>\n

Happily, Bernie Sanders hasn’t given up on Medicare For All, either – as of this writing, his most recent MFA bill <\/a>was put forward in April 2025, and gathered sixteen cosponsors.<\/p>\n

Sanders, on this issue, is aligned with most Americans. A new survey from Data For Progress<\/a> found that:<\/p>\n

65% of voters support a Medicare for All system \u2014 described as a \u201cnational health insurance program\u2026that would cover all Americans and replace most private health insurance plans.\u201d This includes majorities of Democrats (78%) and Independents (71%), and a plurality of Republicans (49%).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even after being exposed to arguments that MFA “would raise taxes and give the government too much control over health care,” 58% of voters still supported it.<\/p>\n

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TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON<\/strong><\/p>\n

This cartoon has four panels, all showing a protest in front of a state government capital building, with marchers holding placards. We’re focused on two people talking, on a thin blonde man in a suit, the other a fatter guy in a pink shirt, carrying a sign that says “MEDICARE FOR ALL.”<\/p>\n

PANEL 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Suit, with an annoyed expression, is talking at Pinkshirt.<\/p>\n

SUIT: Medicare For All? Ridiculous! Did you know that most Medicare For All proposals ban private health insurance?<\/p>\n

PANEL 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pinkshirt slaps a palm over his face and looks horrified. Suit is startled.<\/p>\n

PINKSHIRT: No private insurance? Oh no! The horror! How could I stand not paying more than my rent for insurance that doesn’t even kick in until I’ve spent $5000?<\/p>\n

PANEL 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

A close up of Pinkshirt, wide-eyed and sweating.<\/p>\n

PINKSHIRT: How terrible if I could pick any doctor! Imagine the trauma of not losing health insurance if I lose my job! Sob!<\/p>\n

PANEL 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pinkshirt had fallen dramatically to his knees. Suit scowls at Pinkshirt.<\/p>\n

SUIT: I can tell you’re being sarcastic, you know.<\/p>\n

PINKSHIRT: The poor insurance company executives! Why didn’t I think of the harm to them!<\/p>\n

CHICKEN FAT WATCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Chicken fat” is obsolete cartoonist lingo for fun but irrelevant details in the art.<\/p>\n

In panel 1, an inflatable frog costume has a frown on its face. In panel 2, the frog has started to blow up a balloon with zebra stripes. In panel 4, the inflatable zebra has joined the inflatable frog, and both are smiling.<\/p>\n

The tattoo on Pinkshirt’s arm at first shows an egg in the nest. Then, in the next panel, cracks have appeared in the egg. In the final panel, an adorable chick has hatched.<\/p>\n

Protest signs:<\/p>\n

“generic background PROTEST sign, which isn’t important and you didn’t need to read this, but now you have.”<\/p>\n

“Down with this sort of thing.”<\/p>\n

“Proofreaders need health insurence,” with the “e” in the last word crossed out and replaced with an “a.”<\/p>\n

“No!”<\/p>\n

“Bad Doggie”<\/p>\n

“Careful Now”<\/p>\n

“I Can’t Afford My Spleen”<\/p>\n

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We’d All Miss Private Health Insurance | Patreon<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another collab with the terrific R.E. Ryan. “I Can’t Afford My Spleen” might be a good title for the eventual book collection. I love the way R.E. drew this, especially the suit-and-tie guy in the last panel, with his quietly … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cartooning-comics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27758,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27756\/revisions\/27758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}