Letters
The Coloradoan, July 2, 2011
Rep. Cory Gardner wants us to have vouchers to pay for our health care. This would end Medicare as we know it and would decrease the quality of medicine for everyone. I propose we do something that would save money, provide health care for everyone and create a more competitive opportunity for all businesses, especially small businesses and those in the manufacturing sector.
An Improved Medicare for All (single-payer system) would create the ability to control national health expenditures with uniform rates and fees. It would have a uniform information technology system. This system would provide a single standard of care for everyone. It would increase choice where patients would choose their health provider freely. Physicians would be able to use their best clinical judgment without the interference from either insurance or government administrators.
A big plus is it will virtually eliminate bankruptcies due to medical debt.
A national single-payer health system would create conditions that will stimulate our economy. In some ways, single payer is a jobs bill.
For small businesses, single payer means relief from the increasing burden of providing health benefits to employees. By controlling rising health-care costs, single payer will allow large businesses to be more competitive in the global market.
Single payer enables those who are staying in jobs until they are eligible for Medicare to retire early, which opens jobs for those who are younger.
Congress could address both our health-care crisis and our federal deficit woes by improving and expanding Medicare to all people in our nation.
Ann Molison
Fort Collins, Colo.