Medicare for all

We empathize with Mr. Ron Coffey’s frustration caused by the lack of Medicare re-imbursement for the medical services he and his wife received (GT May 17). There is no question that our current Medicare program needs more “fine-tuning” to correct gaps in coverage, minimize billing frauds, and stay sustainable for generations to come.

Our vision for “Medicare for All” has three essential components:

1. Universal coverage (“everybody’s in, nobody’s left out”). Right now, our health insurance system - a mix of employer-based and publicly-supported plans – leaves many either un-covered or at risk for adverse changes when the job or insurance market fluctuates. Expanding Medicare security and access to essential health coverage benefits to all citizens from birth to grave is the right economic, medical and moral thing to do. Choice of providers would also be “universal”, rather than limited by current, exclusive insurance plans.
2. The “single payer” term needs clarification. Currently, the multiple sources of financing healthcare is confusing and inequitable, and negatively impacts our national economy and business costs. Rather than paying for a mix of premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, everyone will be paying into a public fund specifically dedicated for health services, in a fair and progressive manner than will cost less than the unpredictable cost-sharing we have now. 
3. In a Medicare-for-All system, medical billing and provider re-imbursement, standards of care, drug pricing and administrative overhead costs can be simplified, made more efficient, transparent and accountable than under a fragmented, for-profit multi-system.  

  Respectfully submitted,

Betty Johnson

Chinh Le, MD

(Published in the Gazette Times, June 1. 2017)