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Vicki Voldal Rosenau, Valley City
In her Nov. 20 column mocking the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Julie Fedorchak got one thing (and only one thing) right: "Clearly, we need an off ramp from these massive payouts to insurance companies."
But any changes she advocated would still leave the for-profit insurance monstrosity wielding life/death power over us all! Nothing would improve for worried consumers who are, indeed, "fed up with" the existing insurance-dictated scheme.
Real reform necessarily means eliminating the root problem. That is: removing the stranglehold of self-serving, profiteering "insurers." The U.S. must, finally, join the rest of the developed world by establishing universal, single-payer health care for all citizens. We need reliable health care, not insurance quagmires.
Not surprisingly, most reputable sources have concluded that single-payer will significantly reduce US healthcare costs. E.g., the American Public Health Association declares that, "The best, most efficient, equitable health system is a public, single-payer system."
A National Institutes of Health article states, "a single-payer, universal healthcare system is likely to lead to a 13% savings in national healthcare expenditure, equivalent to over $450 billion annually."
Furthermore, numerous studies show most Americans support single-payer healthcare, and the APHA adds, "a majority of doctors 'strongly support' policy reform to implement single-payer."
Transitioning from a system dictated by Big Insurance to an effective single-payer care system will require considerable time and serious work; the sooner our elected officials get on board, the sooner their words regarding the healthcare crisis will become credible.