When asked recently about the soon-to-be-negotiated stimulus bill, Bernie Sanders said he wouldn’t use his new position as Senate Budget Committee chairman to push for his entire agenda, including Medicare for All. But that doesn’t mean he’s backing down from an aggressive working-class agenda. Sanders’s keystone proposal for the stimulus, the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act (HCEGA), is essentially Medicare for All on an emergency, temporary basis.

It’s the right fight to pick with President Biden — and a test of what the resurgent left can accomplish under the new administration.

Sanders’s plan would guarantee that every person in the United States, regardless of employment, immigration, or insurance status, has the health care they need — including free testing, vaccines, and treatment — during the COVID-19 pandemic. Simple, comprehensive, and cost-effective, the plan would empower Medicare to pay all medical bills including prescription drugs. Patients could go to any hospital or doctor they wanted to, free of cost. The immediate benefits to workers would be enormous: no more worrying about bills, no more choosing between health care and other essentials.