Letter to the Editor

Look at health care spending

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is receiving a great deal of attention in the news and on the editorial pages.

I would offer a few observations. A November 2013 report by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation whose purpose is to promote a high performing health care system, highlights a number of the problems with the United States health care system. This report compares the following countries -- Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

All of these countries except the United States provide universal coverage for their citizens at a cost equal to an average of 10.3 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP). In contrast, 15 percent of the citizens in this country are without health coverage, but we still spend 17.7 percent of our GDP on medical care. Had the U.S. spent only 12 percent of its GDP on health care, it would have saved $893 billion in 2012.

People in the United States do not receive better or swifter service. For all the talk of waiting lines in foreign countries, America is second only to Canada in the number of adults reporting difficulty getting a next-day appointment when they're sick.

The ACA for all its faults attempts to address problems such as these. I would submit that those who would repeal it have the responsibility to offer a replacement which will provide universal coverage and address the other problems we are having with our medical care.

JOHN PIEPHO, Cape Girardeau