Medicare for all would cut waste

The crisis of the uninsured is the most visible failing of the U.S health care system. The Affordable Care Act of 2009 expanded coverage, but left 31 million Americans without health insurance. Moreover, having insurance did not guarantee access to needed care or protect from financial ruin.

Millions of citizens are still underinsured and face the barriers of unaffordable deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance that force then into bankruptcy. Three-fourths of those in declared medical bankruptcy had health insurance at the onset of their illness or injury and job loss.

Yet we stand by idly, doing nothing to rectify the basic cause of the health care crisis, not acting to get rid of for-profit insurers, and negotiate prices with the prescription drug industry. Without the human right to health care, private insurance coverage is highly discriminatory. Not being able to negotiate lower prices for prescription drug prices by using bulk purchasing power is likewise unjust. Workplace discrimination for people of color and immigrants prevents them from receiving quality insurance. Those with greater health needs such as women, the disabled and those with chronic diseases meet disproportionately high deductibles and co-payments. Current healthcare reform laws do not reduce these inequities.

Expanded and improved Medicare for all, H.R. 676, would save $829 billion by cutting out waste in its first year; that’s 24.3 percent of total health care spending. The $829 billion, if reinvested into Medicare for all, would buy comprehensive health coverage for every American. It would eliminate all co-payments, deductibles and other cost sharing. It would provide fair reimbursement for physicians and hospitals. It would provide income security and retraining for any displaced insurance workers. There would be $198 billion per year in savings that could eliminate the federal debt in a few years.

Medicare for all is just plain common sense.

Richard A. Damon,

Bozeman