When I first moved to Montana 25 years ago I was appalled to see notices in our local newspaper asking for help for residents who couldn’t pay their medical bills, by coming to a spaghetti feed to raise money. Really? In the richest country in the world?
When the Affordable Care Act was passed it gave states the no-cost option to have their Medicaid programs expanded for the working poor. The Montana Republican Legislature declined. With enough public pressure they finally conceded, and guess what? No more public pleas to help our residents pay their medical bills so they don’t lose their homes or go bankrupt.
With healthcare once again in the news we are warned by the right-wingers that to institute a “single payer option” would be nothing less than socialism. But guess what? We already have a “single payer” system in the United States. It’s called Medicare, and works pretty darn well for those over 65 years old.
Being very cost effective, Medicare enjoys a mere 2 percent overhead. Private insurance skims at least 17 percent of your hard earned dollars right off the top. Between administrative costs and private insurance company profits we would save $500 Billion a year with Medicare for all!
Every other first world country in the world feels that health care is a right, not a privilege and covers everyone with a single payer system.
Rob Quist believes in Medicare for all. He knows how helpless one feels when facing huge medical bills and bankruptcy just because of a faulty gall bladder and no affordable insurance. It took him years to finally pay off all of his surgeries. Maybe you have a family member or friend who has faced the horror of getting sick and not having the money to get well.
On Thursday, May 25, vote for Rob Quist, the Montanan who supports Medicare for all.
Carol Blake
Eureka