Dear Editor:
While Trump demeans, blusters, and threatens to "implode" the ACA (Obamacare) an even more effective and important system of health care delivery is quickly gaining support - a federally funded, single-payer system, a Medicare-for-all system. According to research from the Sanders Institute and National Nurses United, Americans already more than pay for a Medicare-for-all system, we just don't get what we are paying for.
The report notes that approximately two-thirds of U.S. healthcare expenditures already come from taxpayers in the form of federal, state, and local government spending.
Comparisons of U.S. spending and health outcomes to other countries strongly suggest that there is enough money in our current system to provide healthcare for all, if that money is spent fairly and wisely.
In July, 50 of 52 Republican senators voted in favor of a healthcare plan that would strip tens of millions of Americans of their healthcare over the next decade through drastic cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and other essential provisions of Obamacare (ACA). They may try yet again to pass such corrupt legislation yet.
In a June poll, the Pew Research Center showed that 60 percent of Americans said that the government should provide healthcare to citizens, and 33 percent said they favored single payer - up 5 percentage points from January and 12 points from 2014.
Missouri Republicans - Blunt, Luetkemeyer, Hartzler, Graves, Long and Wagner - as well as, Missouri House and Senate Republicans have consistently worked against the wishes and welfare of Missourians by voting against authentic health care reform that would cover everyone, do it in a more cost-effective way and provide better health outcomes.
Now these corporate chore-boys, who masquerade as legislators and congressmen, are going to move on to tax reform they say. I say they are not trustworthy, they have purposely thwarted the welfare of Missourians at every turn and should be turned out of public office at the earliest possible time and replaced by those that will be genuinely concerned about the "welfare of the people," as our state motto promises.
Publicly elected officials must be made to stop their pandering and kowtowing to big money interests in health care and every other facet of public life on which we are all dependent. They have shown themselves untrustworthy and dishonest in dealing with our health care; why would we trust them with tax reform.