I read your June 3 article with interest. It talks about the challenges patients face in our current healthcare system. Our system is complex and dominated by financially driven entities, not patient-centered. There have been attempts to address the issues with incremental fixes, but they do nothing to simplify the system. In your article, Dr. Victor Montoli states that big changes are needed to make the system better for patients. I agree. We need to implement a single-payer universal healthcare system and change the way we pay for healthcare in this country.
I say this as a physician who has practiced medicine in New Zealand, and as a patient who has received care there. New Zealand has a universal health care system that is simpler for both physicians and patients. Prior authorizations and referrals are easy to submit. Prescription drugs cost $5 per prescription. Patients can get help with travel, child care, rent, and groceries if needed. Medical bankruptcy is unheard of. Yet New Zealand does all this at about half the cost per person compared to the United States.
Economic analysis shows that a single-payer system would actually reduce health care costs while providing quality insurance to every U.S. resident. If our country expanded traditional Medicare to everyone and broadened coverage to eliminate the need for supplemental plans for medical and dental services and prescription drugs, we would have a simpler system and everyone would have access to coverage.
I urge our elected officials to work toward a patient-centered, universal health care system.
Julie Keller Pease
Topsham
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