Letter to the Editor
Universal health care a necessity
I am writing in support of President Obama’s proposals for health-care insurance reform. Our country is in urgent need of universal health care for all our citizens that is sensible, cost-effective, and affordable and that emphasizes preventative health care.
There are more than 30 million Americans lacking health insurance, and millions more are at risk of losing their coverage because of rising costs. The uninsured do not get timely the health care that they need, live sicker, and die younger. Last year, 900,000 people in the United States went bankrupt because of medical crises. The United States is the only developed country without reasonably good universal health care that provides adequate health care to everyone, not just the privileged. Medical bankruptcies are uncommon in other developed countries.
America spends a far higher percentage of Gross Domestic Product on health care than any other country, 16 percent of GDP compared to 10 percent of GDP in Canada, for instance. Yet the United States has worse ratings on many health-care criteria as quality, access, efficiency, and outcomes than other developed countries as Germany, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, according to a 2007 Commonwealth Fund study.
The United States ranks 22nd in infant mortality and 46th in life expectancy. Compared with all other developed countries, we are now paying enough per person for high-quality, universal health care but are not getting it. We can do better.
John Macatee
Iowa City resident
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