By Ollie H. Dixon, John Bostic Jr., Pam Young, Delisha Dixon, Tamie Dixon-Tatum
Anderson residents
Even though the deadline for filing one’s taxes is a month away, many people have already received or will soon receive their tax refund checks. Everyone wants to pay less in the way of taxes and receive bigger tax refund checks. So when the average individual hears about creating a national health care system for all Americans, their first thought is that taxes are going to be increased to pay for it.
What most fail to consider is that we pay for it already. For the most part, uninsured individuals are treated anyway and the costs are written off and passed on to insured individuals and insurance companies in the form of higher medical costs. This causes the insurance companies to raise premiums which often causes employers to drop or reduce coverage that they supply to their employees or cut employment altogether. This in turn creates more uninsured Americans. It is a downward spiral that is getting out of control.
Some may feel that treatment should be denied to those who cannot pay for or afford health care, but do we really want someone to die because his job was outsourced? Do we really want a child to die or be crippled for life because her single mother could not afford treatment and still support her family?
A national health care program would take the stress off of families who are without coverage. Less stress means less potential illness or injury. It would take pressure off employers who constantly struggle to maintain health care for their employees in this troubled economic climate. Less pressure would mean they would be more competitive. By businesses being more competitive, local and national economies would be improved. More people working and making better wages would mean more people would be paying taxes. So, in a sense, a national health care program would pay for itself. And since we already pay for the uninsured and the miles of red tape they must go through, costs could be lower and taxes decreased.
The fear of a national health care program is being generated by those who make the biggest profit keeping things the way they are. They hire an army of lobbyists to make sure there is no change in the health care program and no interruption of their huge profits. This is doubly sad because if all the energy that is expended fighting a national health care program was channeled into organizing the program everyone, including the ones who are fighting it, would benefit. Supplemental policies could be created to increase coverage for those who would want to purchase it. A new system of coverage would exist that could make the United States the healthiest nation on the planet. And when it comes right down to it, quality of life is much more important than profit margins.
We believe all Americans have a basic right to health care. We are all potentially at risk to lose our coverage at any time. It only takes one catastrophic illness or injury to wipe of a family’s savings. Couple this with job losses and you have people living out of dumpsters. Is this the legacy we want to leave for our children? Are we willing to sacrifice the health and wellbeing of our nation just to get a few extra dollars on a tax refund check? What if it was your child being denied treatment? It very well could be some day.
That is why we choose to support a national health care program. It is not only the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do.
Letters
Letter: National health care would pay for itself
- Letters
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Letter: Union attitude must prevail for recovery
Any recovery for the middle class, in the recovery of our economy, will be led by the recovery of the union attitude in America. Nothing else.
- Letter: Founding fathers were humanists
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Letter: Lutz not representing the working class
I feel bad that Rep. Lutz (R) is sad, because Democrats at the Statehouse are representing the working class people of Indiana. While he is representing big business.
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Viewpoint:: Washington must wake up to missile threat
Three years after President Obama opened an outstretched hand to Iran and attempted to reset relations with Russia, the former has restarted its drive to build nuclear weapons including recent missile testing and saber rattling while the latter has dropped its diplomatic relations to Cold War temperatures.
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Letter: Consumer-driven economy will pay off debt
To save America some money — by acclimation of course — let’s not have a presidential election in 2012. We already have a good president who will do his best to kill all Republican bills (DOA) and, consequently, create more good-paying jobs in the $30 per hour range.
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Letter: Gingrich cashes in on political amnesia
Rasmussen says that Romney has flattened nationally. Why?
Two reasons seem to tell the tale. Gingrich has shown that he will fight, and Romney is a Mormon, believed to be a “cult” by a majority of evangelicals. -
Letter: Hiring Winkler not wise spending
As a taxpayer I want to know that my taxes are being spent wisely. Hiring Greg Winkler at a salary of $126,000 is not wise spending.
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Letter: Bill of Rights being nullified by new law
President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act on New Year’s Eve. I doubt many Americans noticed its implications because they do not yet comprehend the big picture. This law, coupled with the Patriot Act, is paving the way for America’s direction toward tyranny.
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Letter: $14 trillion debt started by previous president
I’m a proud atheist who’s lucky enough to know the difference between fact and fantasy.
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Letter: Economy putting people in the gutters
We are now getting the results of putting people in the gutters. We need to take a second look at our government and its policies. It’s not working.
- More Letters Headlines
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Letter: Union attitude must prevail for recovery
