By Marilyn Vaché, M.D.
The (New London, Conn.) Day, Letters, May 28, 2020
As described in The Day’s May 8 article, “Labor commissioner: Connecticut jobless rate at 20 percent or more,” many of our citizens are facing dire financial stress. One of the biggest is health care, as in the U.S. many workers’ insurance depends on their jobs. Hospitals routinely sue patients for unpaid medical bills and garnish their wages; those unpaid bills are the single greatest cause of bankruptcies for American families.
The American Hospital Association refuses to take an official position on this practice, and at the same time helps to fund millions of dollars’ worth of ads opposing single-payer insurance. If the AHA wants to solve the problem of unpaid medical bills it should end its opposition to Medicare for All.