The candidates for federal and state offices all talk about the cost of medical insurance and health care. All appear in favor of lowering the costs; however, there are two aspects of the Republicans’ claims that are disingenuous. They have proposed outright repeal of the Affordable Care Act and have been slowly gutting it by withholding funding and changing regulations.

Sen. Mitch McConnell recently said that the soaring federal deficit will necessitate cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. The Republican fix is to encourage more competition by removing restrictions on insurance companies and having providers make their prices more available to the public. While they may require coverage of pre-existing conditions, they have no plans to control the cost of insurance policies to cover them. They would allow policies with high deductibles and/or offer minimal coverage.

The Democrats “universal coverage” could take on many forms. Medicare-for-all could be the most easily understood and implemented. For those not familiar with Medicare, private insurance companies are very involved by offering supplemental plans or Advantage plans. Both are based on requirements established by Medicare and the ACA, but are issued and controlled by private insurance companies.

Compared to nations with universal coverage, Americans pay dearly for medical care and have poorer results. Paying for universal coverage would redirect the money currently paid by employers and individuals toward the universal system. Therefore, claims that universal coverage would be unaffordable are greatly exaggerated.

Fergus Lea, Poland

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