Private card, huge deductible? No way
Letter to the Editor
Atlanta Journal Constitution
07/08/07
Don’t be fooled by all the politicians claiming to support “universal” health care. If you read the fine print, most of their proposals dictate that everyone should buy a private health care card. What good is your card if it commits you to a $5,000 deductible and 50 percent co-pay before you receive any of your (limited) benefits?
We should reject a mandate that everyone must contribute to the coffers of the big insurance corporations. No, thanks. That sort of “universal” plan could mainly bankrupt the middle class and further enrich the private insurance manipulators.
We need a universal plan that is compassionate and sustainable. The clearest way is to eliminate the role of for-profit insurance companies. Having been practicing medicine for 35 years, after seeing “Sicko” I’m convinced we need — and will eventually demand — a single payer, universal, health insurance system.
Thanks, Michael Moore, for pointing the way.
HENRY S. KAHN
Kahn is emeritus professor of family and preventive medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.