Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

The Affordable Care Act and Medicaid are necessities for millions of Americans. Our Legislators are all privileged and lucky to have these and many other benefits; all paid at taxpayer expense.

Healthcare is significantly more expensive and complicated in America than in other developed countries and our own Veterans Administration (VA).

If we don’t have employer or government-based healthcare we can lose everything we own if we suffer a serious illness or accident.

Medicaid has filled the need for some of our most struggling families, including many who work at poverty-level wage jobs as in the fast food and large retail industries. In these cases, taxpayers must pay for this necessary worker support because the corporations want the money as profit for their CEOs and investors.

Deep cuts in Medicaid have left many without healthcare.

Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans are complicated for our elders and more expensive due to the for-profit Medicare Advantage Plans.

What is a solution? Many suggest a simple single-payer healthcare plan as is provided in other developed countries and our VA program for Veterans. These systems remove the complications, profit and insurance costs and would provide much better, cheaper and safer healthcare for all Americans.

We acknowledge that the for-profit healthcare and insurance industries spend millions of dollars to convince us it’s a bad idea and lobby heavily against a single-payer healthcare plan.

Extreme inhumane profit is the greedy elephant in the room. It’s great for insurance CEO billionaires and bad for patients and healthcare workers.

Let’s stand together for Quality Affordable Healthcare for all of us.

Sherry Kutter, Grey Eagle