Health care and the economy ~ voters alert

Single-payer system would improve health care economics

Echo opinion letter, published in the St. Louis Missouri Post Dispatch newspaper.

One of the top issues for U.S. voters is health care! 

There is a simple solution most of the world is smart enough to recognize but is lost on us: a single-payer system.

There are two compelling reasons for a single-payer system. The first is the moral argument that health care security is a right for all of us. The second is a little more complicated, and that is health care economics. Sadly, most Americans do not understand this aspect of the health care debate and how it adversely affects them.

Anthem announced its first-quarter profits to be $1.31 billion. The reason for the increase from the previous quarter was lower medical costs. The couple who had their claim denied for the helicopter ambulance might find this interesting as well as the numerous people who had claims for emergency room visits denied.

If you have private insurance, approximately 70 percent of the premiums go to provide health care and 30 percent go to the overhead costs of the insurance company to include profits which they enhance by denying claims like yours. If we had a single-payer system, the overhead costs would be less than 5 percent, and 95 percent would go to actual medical care. The Republican Party, which is owned by the (profiteering) insurance companies, calls this socialism. But, I call it good economics.

The advocates for insurance companies argue that we cannot pay for this. I would argue that we already are. In fact we pay double what many countries pay for less beneficial outcomes.

Finally, the Republicans passed a huge tax cut for American businesses so that we could better compete with foreign companies. Imagine how much better our companies could compete if they did not have to pay for their employees' health care insurance. Their foreign competitors do not.

Larry Bowman • Oakville  Missouri (Vote Blue in 2018!)