I support a public health insurance plan. Our current for-profit insurance options create great inequities in the delivery of quality of care. One insurance company may provide benefits that another will not; one may have different limitations on things such as pre-existing conditions, out-of-pocket expenses, or types of providers covered. The COBRA plan was created to help those leaving an employer continue his or her insurance, but the cost is often prohibitive, and the suddenly unemployed person has no choice for reasonably priced health insurance coverage.
Many of us buy inadequate, only catastrophic, insurance coverage that still takes a large part of our monthly budget. And we sigh and say “Well, I’ll be OK if it’s a big deal, but I can’t go for regular checkups to find out if a health issue is developing.” Others have no health insurance coverage. We are then left to make choices about whether to have screening tests and how and when to practice preventative medicine. These choices frequently become self-denied because of the out-of-pocket cost. A public health insurance plan would allow all of us to lead healthier lives by equal access to those resources that are available just down the street at your local healthcare provider. We can intervene on illnesses earlier and stop the ‘natural’ progression of a disease process. By becoming a healthier population we will be a more productive population. The bottom line, as I see it, is that a public health insurance plan is the most caring and humane of options; one that can help us all.
Lois Doubleday
Missoula