I’m writing you to express my concern with Derek Kilmer’s refusal to back Medicare For All, especially in relation to the recent story on the federal Medicare cuts to the Olympic Medical Center.
M4A, as used herein, is meant to suggest any universally available and affordable medical coverage that is available to all persons who seek it.
Our health care system is a confusing patchwork of idiosyncratic billing, local monopolies, and layers of regulatory inefficiencies, all amplified by the profit motivated insurance industry.
Patients are excessively burdened by exorbitant prices, a lack of competitive offerings and inconsistent effectiveness of treatments.
M4A would prevent draconian cuts to rural hospitals like OMC.
The current, means-tested programs that serve the low-income, working-class and our neighbors with disabilities, are the most vulnerable to cuts.
Social programs that provide for all Americans, regardless of their financial status, prove to be extremely popular and difficult to cut once the benefits are historically demonstrated.
M4A is crucial for rural hospitals, which are especially vulnerable to hostile takeovers and consolidation, and which primarily serve lower-income populations.
Federal standardization of payments, procedures, and pharmaceuticals can only help the Peninsula and rural Washington.
Rep. Kilmer has a good heart, but he is defending broken institutions that privilege the wealthy and leave the vulnerable open to the mercy of corporations.
If health care is a human right, it must be treated that way.
It’s either effective health care for everyone or selective denial to the neediest of our citizens.
Anthony Corrado
Sequim