THE PUBLIC MIND: IT'S NOW TIME FOR A UNIVERSAL CARE PROGRAM

To the Editor:

Every American should have access to affordable health care in this country. We don't deserve any less.

We have the most technologically advanced system in the world, but it is too expensive for some to get even the most basic services. Medicare and Medicaid benefits keep decreasing. While premiums and deductibles increase. So how can we expect the elderly and poor to pay for these cuts and increases when they don't have the money? Well, they usually don't pay for it, we the people pay for it. Costs are skyrocketing causing more and more people to join the 36-million uninsured in this country. This is why we need some kind of national Health Care plan, to break this vicious circle.

National health care plans come in many different forms but fall under four basic groups. One is national or universal care for everyone. The second is the "Play or Pay" plan in which employers pay for employees' health insurance or pay a 7-9 percent payroll tax. The third is a Medical Savings Account comparable to an IRA (Individual Retirement Account). The last type is President Bush's proposal of tax credits and vouchers to families to pay for health insurance.

All of these plans have their disadvantages. The medical savings account won't work because if you don't have the money in the first place there isn't going to be any for medical expenses. The "Play or Pay" plan doesn't say how unemployed, part-time, or self-employed people would get insurance. We wouldn't stand for our health care to be rationed and having to wait for months to see a doctor, that's why the nationalized plan won't work. Lastly, Bush's $3,750 in vouchers just isn't enough to pay for health insurance and his plan doesn't even say anything about skyrocketing costs or other big problems.

What we need is a national health care program that keeps our basic structure of the health care system intact. The program should then incorporate both Medicare and Medicaid into it. It should provide comprehensive coverage for preventative health, and long-term care services as well as home health care and administrative costs, and separate health care from employment for the reasons already stated. It would be financed by federal and state taxes which will replace what we are paying for insurance premiums now.

It's time that we all bring together our ideas to put into action a universal health care program for coverage to all Americans.

Christine L. Fadler

Cape Girardeau