Tony Smith
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
Tom Ault has shared his health care bills with us recently and sees nonsense? I agree that we need to look at these matters closely. Most Americans get health care coverage through their employer. This is health care as a commodity. The bills Mr. Ault describe are common and have little to do with government.
The topline bill is what you would be charged if you did not have insurance. Most citizens have insurance and you can see the discount your insurer pays. Then there is the co-pay. All standard stuff, Mr. Ault. Except, if you did not have insurance, you would be charged the total bill. This is how uninsured citizens go broke. Medical bills are a major cause of bankruptcy in America.
However, look at insurance costs. They are on average $10,000 per person in America. We pay the highest amount and almost double the 40 countries that have health care systems. France has long been rated the best system. French citizens pay half of what we pay. We are also the only modern country that does not cover everyone. I don’t say nonsense; I say outrageous.
Health care is big business. In 1960 healthcare was 5 percent of GDP; now it is 18 percent. America spends $3.5 trillion dollars yearly on health care.
Somehow Mr. Ault jumps to criticizing Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has a plan to improve health care by offering Medicare For All. Other than call Sanders a name, Ault offers no solutions.
For the first time in 10 years, the House of Representatives are having meaningful discussions concerning health care. Democrats have several plans. Republicans like President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer have no plans. In fact, Attorney General William Barr has filed a court brief in the Fifth Circuit to wipe out the ACA, leaving 20 million additional citizens without health care. This would allow insurance companies to eliminate coverage for you if you have a pre-existing condition.
Leutkemeyer’s latest missive is doom and gloom. He provides no evidence that American health care will be destroyed by Democrats. He mocks the ACA and Medicare, which Americans like. He says Medicare For All will cost over $30 trillion. A careful reader will note this cost is over 10 years. The other item Leutkemeyer obscures is that once on Medicare you do not pay $10,000 a year to an insurance company.
Pay attention friends, because lies and deception will be the only plan offered by Republicans.