Letter: We Put Men On The Moon, Why Can't We Get Healthcare Straightened Out?

To the editor:

What does healthcare have to do with the strength of our economy? Why am I asking? Republicans are threatening to cut coverage for more than 20 million people and I’m not convinced that is a good way forward for economic reasons, or any other.

Healthcare expenditures are one sixth of our economy; and I have learned that conservatives in Canada support single payer healthcare because it makes their businesses more competitive — because it stimulates entrepreneurship. Why? Numerous studies prove that 30 percent of healthcare costs are sales, marketing and administration by the insurance companies. And I just learned that Medicare pays 20 percent less than private insurance companies for the same services; and the Veterans Administration pays 40 percent less for prescription drugs.

Right now coverage costs about twice what it did 10 years ago because healthcare costs are growing faster than our GDP. Savings from the efficiency and negotiating clout of a single payer “Medicare for All” approach would end this dangerous trend and stimulate growth. Healthcare will no longer be a hurdle to startup businesses. And health care will no longer drive self-insured cities into bankruptcy.

Single payer does not mean a government “takeover” of healthcare. Doctors, hospitals, other medical service providers and drug companies remain private businesses in single payer systems the world over. Ironically, in our “free market” system most of us have no idea how much is actually paid for our care. Single payer provides true free market transparency and creates more jobs through growth than will be lost in the insurance industry.

So why does the Medicare for All proposal before Congress get no attention? The Republican focus on costs alone ignores the savings possibilities of this approach and simply cuts costs by cutting care — specifically, Medicaid. They have been deceptive about this, for example, our Congressman Frelinghuysen doesn’t even mention Medicaid cuts on his web site or in his emails on the subject. Our President has been similarly misleading. In reality, the proposed cuts “ration” medical care, something critics say a single payer system would do.

Prominent Democrats, including our New Jersey senators, ignore the single-payer approach. Are they hoodwinked by insurance lobbyists, intimidated by big pharmaceutical companies, or what? Single payer in Canada for decades has led to improvements in life expectancy, especially in life’s first four years. Canada life expectancy ranks 12th in the world. The United States ranks No. 31.

I learned most of this from Dianne Douthat, a Democrat running for Wayne City Council. She’ll get my vote. As an independent, I vote for politicians who dig beneath the surface rather than fall back on tired formulas.

Right now we in Wayne have no representation to support a true business approach to healthcare — eliminating the middlemen — eliminating inefficiency. Most of our political leaders use complexity as one of the excuses for healthcare inaction. If we put men on the moon 50 years ago, we can bring healthcare management into the modern world.

John Pennington
Wayne, NJ

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