Mike Barnhill
Ashland
Dear Editor:
The Republicans are playing hardball once again with threats to not allow the ceiling on the national debt to be raised, which the Democrats allowed four times during the Trump Administration that caused a $7.2 trillion increase.
A shutdown could cost jobs, interfere with Social Security and military personnel checks. Not to mention a drop in the stock market that will hurt investors of both political parties. A balanced budget will probably not happen in our lifetime anyway. But here is a problem that can possibly be solved now.
The spread of COVID-19 and 700,000 deaths needs to end. Recent COVID-19 recovery costs while in a hospital are now furnished by a new study by the nonprofit Fair Health has found these average bills.
The average bill for a patient hospitalized for COVID-19 is $98,139. For cases requiring a ventilator or a stay in the intensive-care unit, the average bill was $317,810. I suppose, because these fall under a national emergency, the bills are being waved by both hospital or insurance companies. But who is eventually paying for these visits by increased premiums and deductibles to existing insurance policies? The answer is all of us, both Republicans and Democrats.
Why not bill those who refuse to take COVID-19 therapy if they end up in a hospital visit or ICU? That may be only one way to get these reluctant hard-heads to see the light of ending COVID-19 and that's through their billfold or purse.