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Letter: Health care reform should be welcomed

October 13, 2010

Dear Editor,

Even given the hostility of some to any action by Democrats, the reasons for opposition to health care reform are puzzling. The idea that all Americans deserve basic health care has had wide public backing for decades, but the number of uninsured and the costs have risen sharply.

The legislation passed is not the best, but it is not radical, based as it is on an extension of private insurance. It provides some immediate relief from fear of catastrophe; it insures millions more; and it pays for itself, even after the Republicans gutted some important cost-cutting measures.

The first reforms have begun taking effect. Companies cannot cancel your policy after you get sick, and young adults can stay on their parents’ policies until age 26. After state insurance exchanges are set up, most of those now uninsured will be required to buy coverage from private insurers through these exchanges.

There will be subsidies on a sliding scale for those with lower incomes and tax credits for small businesses. Businesses with more than 50 employees must offer coverage or pay a penalty. The sticking point seems to be that many uninsured individuals must buy insurance or pay a penalty.

Why is that wrong or unfair? We must all buy car insurance, and we must all pay into Social Security. The same with Medicare and all forms of insurance. Why should the rest of us pick up the tab for the 50 million uninsured who are an enormous drain on the economy?

We all pay for their treatment, through higher premiums or taxes, and by having an unhealthy society where chronically ill people cannot work.

The savings from pooling risks for everyone is expected to reduce the budget deficit by $390 billion in a decade, and more in future decades. The cost of Medicare will come down by slowing the increases in payments to hospitals and nursing homes, the establishment of a Medicare advisory board on cost cutting, and an aggressive attack on fraud.

No one knows what the total savings will be, but without reforms we are headed for bankruptcy.

Carol Bastian
Danville

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