Extend government health-care programs

If I hear “We don’t want a government-run health-care system” one more time, I think I’ll throw up. Government-run Medicare has served us seniors well for more than 40 years. Our demanding health-care needs would be the private providers’ worst nightmare. Moreover, the cost of extending a government health-care plan like Medicare to those under 65 would be far cheaper than the present one.

Those intent on sabotaging any government-involved plan like to carry their episodic arguments to Canada. However, in recent polls, 78 percent of Canadians say they want to keep their government-run system. And while traveling last year, I remember talking to several Canadians about their system, all who adamantly said that, although expensive, they weren’t willing to give up their coverage.

Just from an intuitive perspective, why haven’t these people asked themselves: Why haven’t the industrialized nations who have government-mandated health care ceded the coverage back to the unlimited profit-seeking private providers?

Jerry Gregory
IU alumnus