Cover more people

I am writing in response to Hunter Woodward’s letter in the Aug. 19 issue of the Gettysburg Times. In the letter, the author, a senior at Penn State, expresses concern about increases in the payroll tax that may come with a transition to a Medicare for All healthcare plan. “To pay for it,” he says, “the average American worker would be forced to pay a massive $2300 payroll tax increase.”

That sure sounds like a lot of money, but Woodward’s letter got me thinking: how much does my current insurance cost and what does it actually cover? So, being one of the lucky guys who actually happens to have insurance at work, I decided to bring up my electronic pay check to see what’s going toward insurance.

What I found was that my employer has been putting in $318.62 and I’ve been adding $35.94 twice a month for a yearly total of $8509.44 without including dental or vision coverage. On top of that, my plan has a $1000 deductible! So, assuming I have some significant medical expenses in a given year a total of $9509.44 may well be going to pay for my insurance, which only covers me since the kids are grown and gone and my wife has coverage of her own. And, this does not include copays for visits and prescriptions that continue after the deductible is met.

Up against $9509.44+, $2300 doesn’t sound so bad since—if it’s working right—the public plan would cover everything in the private plan and more, and the costs of the private plan would go away. A good hunk of the private plan money might well be available for a raise in my salary.

The fragmented system we have now is not serving us well. The Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medicaid helped cover a lot more people and offered some additional protections to those seeking to buy private insurance, but we really do need to transition to something better. That will only happen when we elect officials at the state and federal level who are willing to face facts and work together to get the job done. Something to think about for sure as we head toward Nov. 3.

Will Lane,
Gettysburg