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America deserves better

Dear Editor,

In light of the GOP’s persistent efforts to enact healthcare legislation which would prove devastating for tens of millions of Americans, you will likely be hearing more voices calling for serious consideration of a single-payer/“Medicare for All” system, which is being successfully used in most other developed nations in the world. And, in response to this, you will inevitably hear the predictable warning cries of “higher taxes!” and “government takeover!” from Republicans.

But don’t let them fool you. The other half of the picture, which they selectively choose to leave out, is that you would be paying $0 to private sector profit-driven insurance companies – no premiums, no deductibles, no co-pays – and all citizens would be provided comprehensive healthcare. So, yes – you would pay “higher taxes” to fund this single-payer healthcare system, but you would be paying less than you are now paying for private-sector based insurance, if you are fortunate enough to be able to afford it.

In fact, it is projected that in the first 10 years of transitioning to such a system, the nation’s total healthcare costs would be $17 trillion less. Let that sink in for a moment. That’s a savings of 1.7 trillion dollars per year, which could do wonders in terms of improving our schools, upgrading our infrastructure, and paying down the national debt, among other things.

President Trump promises “terrific” healthcare for everyone, and at a lower cost. So why isn’t he pursuing this type of universal healthcare system, which seems to be the one proven way of accomplishing this worthy goal? And why isn’t the GOP, the party of “fiscal responsibility,” enthusiastically proposing this? Universal healthcare through a single-payer system would be a vast improvement fiscally and a welcome step toward a more just, compassionate, and moral society. The fact that our great nation has not yet found a way to do this for all of its citizens is truly unfathomable and disgraceful.

Maybe now is the time when we can finally catch up to the rest of the developed world and make this shift? With enough pressure from the voters whom our political leaders are sworn to serve, perhaps they could find a way to put their partisan fighting aside in order to make this clearly achievable possibility a reality – one which would benefit all of our nation’s current citizens and all of those yet to come.

I realize I’m a bit of an idealist, but… isn’t this the kind of worthy goal our government really should be working toward? Perhaps together we can remind our leaders of this.

Respectfully submitted,

Dale E. Buonocore,

Warren

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