Letter to the editor: Health care law should be improved, not repealed

It has been many years since I have written a letter to The Jamestown Sun but I feel I must speak out.

A political ad on TV states “North Dakotans do not like Obamacare.” Apparently if you disagree, then you are not a North Dakotan (maybe an alien).

Some years back my father, at age 62, suffered a stroke which resulted in huge medical bills. His insurance exempted any payment for cardiovascular treatments as he had suffered from high blood pressure for some time. My parents had worked hard, did not take vacations and were frugal to save for their retirement.

Without the health care law (referred to as Obamacare), insurance companies can continue to deny insurance coverage to people who need it most as in my father’s situation. Also in North Dakota, our state’s physicians and hospitals would lose $650 million in additional funding. Repealing the health care law would add more than $100 billion to our deficit in the first 10 years and it would leave 60 million uninsured (information received from Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D.). There is also the criticism of Medicare being cut. The AARP Bulletin for September 2012 indicates “the new health care law cut some $500 billion from the growth of Medicare Advantage spending but the cuts will be from the providers not the benefits.” Although this amount is large, those against the health care law quote a much larger figure.

One reason why some lawmakers may be against this plan is that members of Congress and their employees will be required to purchase their own insurance through the same insurance exchanges as all other Americans who purchase insurance beginning in 2014. Other citizens are allowed to keep their coverage if they like.

I believe we have a start for health care and need to work on improving it and not repeal it.

LaVina Kleese

Jamestown

Tags: opinion, letters, politics