It’s very troubling to see the discussion on the U.S. health care system restricted to just the Affordable Care Act and prospects of what Republican replacement plans might involve. Americans deserve better than this. We deserve a white paper study on the costs of a national system similar to what our veterans currently have, a system where all citizens are covered, one dictated by our elected officials, not corporate suits.

Ask yourself, why are we the only westernized country with a health care system run by for-profit corporations, one with exorbitant monthly payments, high deductibles, and too often not affordable to tens of millions of citizens?

And still, we spend more than twice the per person costs than other countries. That’s not including out of control drug prices usually dictated by Big Pharma and too often approved by your insurance company. Try comparing Canada’s drug prices to ours.

So if we can cover all citizens and save hundreds of billions of dollars — including the billions of dollars businesses spend helping cover employee policies — and lower drug prices, why isn’t this option at least on the table?

More interesting still is why isn’t the editorial board of this newspaper demanding a national system be included in the debate? Has good independent journalism been compromised by insurance and pharmaceutical corporations? What a shame.

Steve Musica

Richmond