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To the editor:
Polls show that most Americans want health-care reform to include a “public option.” More would be for it if there were not so many lies floating around. Opponents cry “government takeover,” “big new bureaucracy” and “billions of dollars of extra cost.” I say “baloney!”
It would be easy to let persons who are not yet seniors buy Medicare coverage. They would pay competitive premiums in addition to the usual FICA tax. Uncle Sam would take nothing over. Most doctors would still work for themselves. Private companies or charities would still own and run most of the hospitals, clinics, laboratories and rehabilitation facilities. Medicare already knows how to pay claims. There would be no need for a new system. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a public option would save $25 billion a year, although only 10 percent would choose it.
Private insurance companies presently have no reason to control costs. They have near monopolies in most states. They can choose their customers, exclude sick people and ration care. Their profits have gone up 480 percent in the last 10 years. Costs are going up 7 to 8 percent every year.
Private insurance is not helping us. It is bleeding us dry. We need a competitive market. We need the public option!
To the editor:
Polls show that most Americans want health-care reform to include a “public option.” More would be for it if there were not so many lies floating around. Opponents cry “government takeover,” “big new bureaucracy” and “billions of dollars of extra cost.” I say “baloney!”
It would be easy to let persons who are not yet seniors buy Medicare coverage. They would pay competitive premiums in addition to the usual FICA tax. Uncle Sam would take nothing over. Most doctors would still work for themselves. Private companies or charities would still own and run most of the hospitals, clinics, laboratories and rehabilitation facilities. Medicare already knows how to pay claims. There would be no need for a new system. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a public option would save $25 billion a year, although only 10 percent would choose it.
Private insurance companies presently have no reason to control costs. They have near monopolies in most states. They can choose their customers, exclude sick people and ration care. Their profits have gone up 480 percent in the last 10 years. Costs are going up 7 to 8 percent every year.
Private insurance is not helping us. It is bleeding us dry. We need a competitive market. We need the public option!
