By Anne Scheetz, M.D.
Chicago Sun-Times, Letters, Feb. 20, 2017
As Phil Kadner notes in his Feb. 15 column about the Republicansā threat to repeal Obamacare, for health insurance companies, āItās all about profit.ā Their stocks have recently posted the highest gains of any sector of the S&P 500, and their CEOs receive millions in compensation.
Meanwhile, in 2016, some 27 million Americans remained uninsured; 63 million adults went without needed health care because of cost; 70 million adults had difficulty paying medical bills; and 46 million adults were paying off medical debt.
Health insurance companies add zero value to health care, while the administrative complexity they create generates at least $500 billion per year of waste, enough to provide high quality care for all of us..
Thereās a simple solution: Get the insurance companies out of health care by passing and implementing national improved Medicare for all. Its time has come.