Dear Editor:
I just received a note from my health insurance carrier. The note indicated that my monthly premiums, I am self-employed and therefore pay for my family’s coverage, will increase from $ 2,099.77 to $ 2,425.00 a month as of June 1st. The math is simple and rounded to the nearest thousand its $29,000.00 (twenty nine thousand dollars). I am not sure which planet the general public is living on, or if they understand just how much health insurance costs, or if they understand how much their health benefits are worth. But I am willing to bet that if they understood these costs and benefits, and lost them and had to pay for them themselves, people would be out in the streets and up in arms. I find it unacceptable, and outrageous, that, in these great United States, we do not have a decent and affordable health care system. Frankly I am tired of listening to Republicans rant and rave about “Obamacare”, and, if they want to be taken seriously, I would like to hear a reasonable alternative to what Mr. Obama got passed into law. I would like to hear something other than “as my first act as President I will repeal Obamacare.” As if this would help me. And I don’t want to hear about the free market either. The insurance companies are scoundrels and are driven by profit motive, not by the state of my family’s health.
From the President I would like a clear and firm “Public Option,” yes, run by the government, or an option to buy into Medicare. When health care becomes a business, rather than a profession and calling, we need to take a good hard look at what is really important to our society and rethink our priorities. This great nation must, collectively, look after the health of its people. Anything less is uncivilized.
Sincerely,
Anthony Lefeber