Consider Medicare for all
The Affordable Care Act is a failure, leaving 25 million uninsured; even with government subsidies, the policies offered by private insurance companies are unaffordable for many working people. What is the answer? The elephant in the room. Our politicians seem afraid to talk about Medicare for all.
Premiums would be designed so that you pay what you can afford. Every American would pay something. The rich would pay more than the poor, which makes sense because in our current system the person who makes $400,000 a year pays the same premium as the worker at a local manufacturing concern.
Under Medicare for all, net take-home pay for anyone making less than $450,000 a year would increase, and the coverage would be much better.
Can’t be true? But it is; just drive north for five hours, cross the St. Lawrence River and you will be in a place that has had Medicare for all since the late 1960s — and Canadians love it.
Why don’t we talk about it? Could it be the millions of dollars of campaign contributions made by private health care companies to our elected officials? Demand that your representative look into Medicare for all.
Dr. Ewell G. Scott
Morehead
This story was originally published April 7, 2017 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Consider Medicare for all."