J. Jason Gale: Health care should be considered an American birthright
For 24 years the Democrats tried to reform health care. The Affordable Care Act acquired a foothold with an insurance-based system. Donald Trump’s recent defeat in repealing the ACA underscored the public’s desire for affordable health care.
But ACA costs are problematic. Not enough healthy people are paying into the system while too many unhealthy people are using it. The government is underfunding the gap so premiums are soaring. At this rate, it will cost less for the government to implement the public option than to keep underwriting the insurance industry. A public option could likely look like Medicare.
Why not design an ability-to-pay system? In general, if you have no income, health care is free; for the wealthy, it’s full price; in between, you pay a percentage.
To help pay for it, the IRS would determine your percentage and issue credit cards. If you owe back taxes, you get no credit card. That could potentially bring in billions in back taxes.
Some oppose government-paid health care. However, affordable health care is America’s birthright. The Declaration of Independence promises life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Life can’t be separated from health anymore than liberty can be separated from emancipation.
J. Jason Gale, Riverbank
This story was originally published March 31, 2017 at 4:43 PM with the headline "J. Jason Gale: Health care should be considered an American birthright."