The best method of providing excellent health insurance for all Americans is to have a single-payer plan, and that plan should be Medicare. Statistical polls show that people on Medicare are most satisfied with their plan. So when is the government going to provide Medicare for all Americans?
Obamacare is a good start, but a single-payer health plan would do several fine things.
First, it would eliminate the “shopping around” aspect of finding an appropriate health-care plan, since a one-size Medicare plan would fit all. Second, it would serve all Americans with no penalties or exclusions in or out of network. Third, it would be funded by healthy working people. Fourth, those who work in the current insurance industry would be absorbed by the Medicare department. No jobs would be lost, except, perhaps, for those multimillion-dollar health-insurance company CEOs. Fifth, Medicare funding can be increased by eliminating the income lid of payment. Some people in this country fulfill their Medicare premium payments within the first several work days of a new year. The rest of us must work till Dec.31 to make payment. And, lastly, it would eliminate the doughnut hole in medication payments which socks taxpayers with doubled and trebled medication payments in December. The government would also be empowered to negotiate the prices of drugs on behalf of the American people, and the only ones that would hate this aspect of a single-payer method would be the K Street lobbyists.
It’s easy to see how the Medicare department would benefit all Americans by noting the items above. It would take away a lot of stress, anxiety, confusion and headaches in “shopping around” for a health-care plan. We need the Medicare department now. Let us join the civilized societies of the world, such as the Scandinavians, who really care for their populations. Once we start the single-payer Medicare plan, much of our grief will dissipate. Problem solved.
LARRY BOOKER
Pittsford