Opinion: Medicare for all is the way forward

[n2doc]

by Jack Bernard

I was both pleased and surprised to read Ken Zapp's oped regarding single payer. He is right on target.

The passage of the Affordable Care Act(ACA) was a positive from the standpoint of coverage. Although it has not met its goals, projections were that 9.1 million would be signed up via health insurance marketplaces and only 8.8 million were, the ACA still has been a major positive regarding access. And, if the Supreme Court had not gutted the Medicaid expansion provision in a strange politically motivated move, many more would be covered.

In any case, there are still tens of millions still uncovered. These are our friends and neighbors, hard working people who are employed by firms that do not provide health insurance.

Now for the negative side of the ACA: it is built on a rotten fiscal foundation, depending upon private insurance. As I wrote in various published letters and opeds when it was first passed, the ACA will cost taxpayers a lot more than predicted.

Insurers will only participate if they can make money, profits. Many are currently suffering huge loses due to adverse selection and are seriously considering withdrawal . In simple language, the sickest people are enrolling and the healthiest are choosing to opt out. Inevitably, premiums will go up due to financial pressures on the insurers which remain in the program.

Under Medicare for All, this obstacle is overcome. There is one insurer (the good old US of A) that covers everyone and can apply leverage to obtain lower prices. But, Medicare for All is not socialism, whereby provision of services is done by the government.

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http://businessinsavannah.com/bis/2016-03-18/opinion-medicare-all-way-forward#