This is in reference to the News Times Newspapers article by Esther Confino, Jan. 29, 2016 edition “Obamacare better, but single payer best.”
Articles by Ms. Confino are always intelligent, thorough and unbiased.
Many know how the ACA-Obamacare was intended to be and how it has been forced into degeneration.
Therefore I will only quote a small amount of said article and then add some of my comments.
She wrote “Single-payer reform is really the only effective remedy that every other industrialized nation in the world has been able to implement.”
Bernie Sanders has been promoting a single payer plan.
The detractors are spouting that it is socialistic-socialism: What is and is not is not so simple and I am not going to get involved with labels.
What I will say is that we have such as our highways, streets, public parks and many other things that we may use as much or as little as we want. They are provided by the taxes we pay whether local or otherwise and are available unrestricted to the public.
If we wish to buy something we can go to a store or whatever or maybe decide that we don’t need it after all. We are free to shop around to find the best price among the for-profit enterprises.
There are some who claim that our postal service is socialism however the sender pays for what is being sent on an individual basis: It is user supported: just not for profit.
If we become ill or suddenly need medical attention we have no choice whether or not to obtain it.
I just read the Hippocratic Oath and its evolution over time on the internet. It sets the tone for what the medical profession should be.
Medical care needs to be supported by the annual taxes we pay based on our taxable annual income as are our highways, etc. that I mentioned.
On the roads, a Honda or a Mercedes have equal rights.
The rich and poor would have equal coverage.
I separate between stores and businesses which are for profit and governmental services which are not.
There is also the drive to privatize Social Security and we know darn well that the greedy would gut it.
Under a single-payer system health insurance companies would cease to exist.
Pharmaceuticals would be paid by the system along with medical personnel and hospitals. There would be no gouging.
Socialism?
No! It is all paid for by taxes. It is not a hand-out by any conceivable manner.
The for profit motive, the buying of our elected officials and anything else that bankrupts a person in need would be eliminated.
The Hippocratic Oath sets the tone for the attitude of the service providers for the sake of humanity.
If some don’t have that within themselves, find another kind of business.
I need say no more.
Charles Samek
Mineola
