Letter: Medicare for all is viable solution

Congress has dithered for eight years trying to devise a plan to replace Obamacare. The best they have come up with takes health insurance away from 23 million people at an unknown cost. No one would describe Obamacare as the best plan for America, but 23 million people losing health care without taxpayers knowing the cost is not a better plan.

Sometimes, with a problem like this, the obvious answer lies unnoticed. In this case, that answer is a simple, single-payer program. It's called Medicare. It's familiar to all of us. It isn't perfect, but it works. There is a history of revisions that made it work better and more could be done. Millions of people benefit from it. What Congress should do is pass a bill that expands Medicare to every citizen.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. John Conyers have proposed bills in the Senate and House. The two bills (available for review on their Senate and House Web pages) propose different ways for accomplishing the goal of Medicare for all in a fiscally-responsible way and they demonstrate that there is lots of room for discussion and compromise that could bring about good public policy for the American people. Bipartisan cooperation for the public good would be a breath of fresh air on the political scene.

Medicare for all deserves our support, no matter our politics.

Carol Thompson

Coralville