"The left is buzzing" over a Washington Free Beacon report on left-wing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's psychiatrist wife, Sarah Jukaku, who does not accept Medicare or any other insurance plan at her private practice as her husband campaigns for a single-payer "Medicare for All" system that would cover every American "from cradle to grave."
"Over in Michigan, meanwhile, the left is buzzing over a conservative Washington Free Beacon scoop: The wife of progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a psychiatrist, doesn't accept Medicare or insurance — despite being married to a candidate demanding Medicare for All," political reporter Rachael Bade wrote in her newsletter, the Inner Circle. She cited her colleague, former Democratic adviser and the Huddle cohost Dan Turrentine, who said "stories like this are 'devastating' for progressives."
"I'll equate it to Gavin Newsom having dinner at the French Laundry during COVID, or Nancy Pelosi getting her haircut during COVID, which is, it's this do as I say not as I do," Turrentine, a former Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton aide, said on the show's Tuesday episode.
"If your wife is a doctor who makes a good living and does not take Medicare … to then say we're going to advocate that everybody has to have this system, and we're going to try to use the government to force rates down on doctors, it just paints the picture of an elite that doesn't really play by the rules they're asking me to play by," he continued. "In a state with working class people like Michigan … do I think this will spread and it is a huge problem of authenticity and kind of the phoniness? I do."
"Do as I say, not as I do." El-Sayed champions Medicare for All, but his psychiatrist wife accepts no Medicare and no insurance. It "paints the picture of an elite that doesn't really play by the rules" @danturrentine @seanspicer @rachaelmbade pic.twitter.com/cFYCjqaw94
— The Huddle (@theDChuddle) July 14, 2026
Jukaku has a medical degree from Columbia University and a masters from the University of Oxford. She worked as co-chief of psychiatry at University of Michigan Health, which does accept Medicare, before starting her own Ann Arbor, Mich.-based practice, Mind Work Psychiatry, in 2024. Jukaku opted out of Medicare the following March, meaning she cannot bill the program, records show. She is also "out of network for all insurance companies," according to her website, and thus requires all patients to pay out of pocket. Those with pricier private insurance plans can often submit bills to their providers to recoup some of the costs, but those with Medicare cannot.
The arrangement stands in stark contrast to El-Sayed's campaign platform. He has argued that "your healthcare shouldn't depend on who signs your paycheck" and that "we can and must guarantee healthcare from cradle to grave."
Jukaku appears to have taken steps to hide her insurance policies. A Google preview of her "FAQs" page shows the question, "Do you accept my insurance? No." That question is no longer included on the page.
