Tim O’Mara
Jefferson City
To the Editor:
To Ms. Schnieders, the Fox poll referenced asked about Medicare — not, as you put it, “free healthcare.” I’m well aware that Medicare is a government program that most recipients have been paying into for years. What is being suggested is to allow Americans to start paying for and receiving the benefits now, the so-called “single-payer option.” Too many Americans do not have decent health insurance though their jobs. When these folks get sick, they are faced with catastrophic financial burdens that, among other results, cause them to declare bankruptcy and lose their homes. Ask around Mid-Missouri. I’m sure you may know someone — or someone who knows someone — who had to face this crisis.
Also, a large number of Americans without adequate healthcare — through no fault of their own — end up using the hospital and ER for their primary care. Taxpayers pay for those services. We’d pay a lot less if everyone had access to Medicare. Many Americans go without healthcare and medications due to lack of adequate insurance. They literally feel they “can’t afford to get sick.” They end up getting sicker and their conditions grow worse until they finally get the now-emergency help they need, and taxpayers end up paying for those services.
Yes, Medicare for all would be pricey, but not nearly as costly as Americans getting sicker and sicker. I believe the healthcare system in this country should be treated the same way we treat the public education system: Everyone is entitled to an appropriate public education. Those who want pay more, can go private, but everyone gets an education. That’s the great America I believe in. We take care of our own at all times, including when they’re at their most vulnerable.