People are waking up to see that corporate greed is hurting Americans. We have a broken for-profit health care system. Quality is mediocre, and more than 50 million Americans are uninsured. Medicare, Medicaid and hospitals are under threat of new cuts. Meanwhile, the nation’s for-profit health insurers net billions in profits, and CEOs take tens of millions in pay.

Every other advanced nation sees health care as a basic right and provides better quality care at half the cost. It’s time for the American system to deliver needed quality health care to everybody, protect people against huge medical care expenses and reverse the spiral of increasing costs.

Obamacare would expand coverage and eliminate exclusions for pre-existing conditions; however, even if fully implemented, it leaves 25 million people uninsured and does not contain spiraling costs. This is no surprise since it left private insurance companies, big Pharma and a profiteering system in place.

Republicans vehemently oppose Obamacare, while irresponsibly offering no alternative option of their own. The “plan” under the GOP’s effort to preserve the status quo seems to be “Don’t get sick.”

A single-payer improved-Medicare-for-all plan could cut costs dramatically by streamlining health-care paperwork and making health-care affordable. Savings would be enough to provide coverage for everyone, without any additional spending. The concept is popular with the American people and enjoys the support of most doctors.

Single-payer, however, threatens the multi-million-dollar paychecks of insurance companies, CEOs and the outrageous profits of drug companies and medical entrepreneurs.

I encourage others to visit Maine AllCare (maineallcare.org) and learn how they can help bring about a real universal health care system. They can add their voice to the growing chorus, and tell our leaders to stand up for the health of the American people rather than the wealth of our richest firms.

John BenzigerSouth China


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