Dear subscribers,
I have largely retired from active participation in the healthcare world, but have not lost my sense of urgency about doing the right thing for our patients and our country's beleaguered healthcare system. So today I am sharing a brief essay from a respected colleague about the important issues before us in the current elections. I believe that this is a very important moment that will define our nation's values and affect the lives of millions of our citizens for years to come. Please consider this carefully and share this analysis.
Your Health - Biden vs Trump
Former vice president Joe Biden has clearly endorsed the concept that all residents of the USA should have access to quality, affordable healthcare as a basic human right. He believes that an improved form of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be the bedrock of accomplishing that goal. He has endorsed the concept of the "public option" where individuals and their families can choose to stay in their private insurance or sign up for a Medicare-type plan.
Joe Biden is clear and transparent about his healthcare plan and how to pay for it.. Trump and his Republican party are not. In fact, Trump has told us for the last four years that he has a better plan. So where is it? Nowhere, because it does not exist. Trump's only goal is to tear apart the current system, but he has not come up with a viable alternative. He wants to take away healthcare coverage for over 20 million Americans, many of whom lost their insurance when they lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 virus. Just prior to the pandemic an estimated 35.7 million Americans did not have health insurance. If Trump is re-elected and the ACA is gone, that number will increase to over 55 million, or about 16% of the US population.
So what else is at stake if Trump is successful in wrecking the ACA? According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a highly respected, non-biased source, "If all or most of the ACA is struck down, many of the these provisions could be eliminated":
- Eligibility for insurance for 54 million people with pre-existing conditions (which now includes a positive covid-19 test);
- No cost preventative care like annual physicals, wellness checks and vaccines;
- Caps on lifetime and annual out-of-pocket costs;
- Children no longer covered on your insurance plan till age 26;
- Mental health and substance abuse coverage
- Insurance premium subsidies for low and modest income people.
The current pandemic has clearly shown that access to quality care for everyone is in our personal and national best interest. We now understand that our personal health and economic well-being are greatly affected by the health or sickness of our neighbors and our communities. The number of pandemic deaths during the Trump administration is over 200,000. Compare that with the 47,424 deaths in the Vietnam War or 33,636 in the Korean War. According to John's Hopkins University, the number of pandemic deaths per 100,000 people in the U.S. is 61. Canada, our nearest neighbor, is 25, Germany 11, France 46 and Ireland 37.
The Biden healthcare plan and its leaders would have saved tens of thousands of U.S. lives if it had been in place when this pandemic started. Your vote is critical in deciding whether or not millions of Americans have access to quality, affordable care and how well prepared this country is for the next pandemic.
Roy Hitchings, Camden Maine
Retired CEO of Pen Bay Medical Center