Burlington Free Press

 

Single-payer health care is one of the best things to happen in Vermont and the nation. It ranks with legislation such as Social Security, Rural Electrification, Land Grant Colleges, Homestead Act, GI Bill, to name a few. Where would we be without the Interstate Highway System? You can take the old road, I’ll take the interstate. Bring extra sandwiches.

John McClaughry in his “My Turn” (“Single-payer health care squeezes out freedom,” April 16) talks about “freedom” to choose an insurance company. We have that now. It’s broken. Let’s think this through.

You are sick. You find out your carrier doesn’t cover you for the procedure. What to do? Pay out of pocket? Negotiate with another company? Hope for the best? Die?

I like the idea of the four freedoms. I particularly like freedom from want. This is what single-payer is all about. Forget the options listed above. When you’re sick, you get treated. That’s it.

President Eisenhower in his farewell address mentions human betterment many times. After 40-plus years, how is Medicare working? I rest my case.

DONALD P. MACDONALD
Burlington