Letter to | the Editor

To the Editor:

Have you wondered why the new Republican majority is hell-bent on repealing the Affordable Care Act (the ACA), yet don’t have a plan for replacement. It’s not because they are stupid. It is because they, like us citizens, are not being honest about the real issues.  We are unwilling to see (or at least admit) that we Americans expect the best care, on demand, at a reasonable cost, regardless of its actual cost; yet costs have been rising steadily for decades.

We do not wish to acknowledge that the main causes for rising costs are that research and development, new equipment, and updated training aren’t free; an aging population means more ailments, thus more services needed; and that as long as we use private providers and insurers they must make a profit. 

Before the ACA, there were many uninsured, resulting in less preventive care and more emergency room visits, which caused the adequately-insured to pay the costs through higher premiums and taxes.  The ACA added more insured people, but because of the foundational values mentioned above (and that we will not refuse to treat sick people), we have higher deductibles, higher premiums, and, increasingly, less private provider/insurer participation. And a hybrid (privatized-government) system adds more layers of bureaucracy than if it were a totally private or a totally government system. 

So, the realistic and difficult solutions are these: Reducing government’s role, which will put us back where we were before the ACA (costs still rising); a government takeover (single payer), which could reduce costs but would mean rationed care; keep some hybrid system and be willing and ready to devote more of our GDP to paying the rising costs.

As the song says, you can’t always get what you want.

Steve Turman

Red Oak