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Congress must keep affordable health care

The Republican members of Congress are falling all over themselves in the rush to repeal the Affordable Care Act that was instituted in 2010. They promise that the 20 million previously uninsured Americans who have health coverage through this act will have an equivalent health program available to them. To date there is no replacement program — this even though the Republican Party has had six years to develop one.

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act has been a rallying cry for years as the Republicans have sought to gain control of Congress and the presidency. Very little attention has been paid to the benefits that the Affordable Care Act has provided:

1. 20 million Americans have health insurance who were previously uninsured including children age 21 to 25 still living with their parents and people with prior health conditions.

2. The medical-care inflation rate is down from an average of 8.5 percent per year prior to the Affordable Care Act to 2.5 percent per year now.

3. Per capita health-care expenditures are down from an average of 10 percent per year from 1990 to 2010 to 3.4 percent per year now.

4. Annual uncompensated health-care costs have been reduced by $7.4 billion with $5 billion of that due to the Medicaid expansion that accompanied the Affordable Care Act.

5. The average rate of increase for family health insurance premiums nationwide has decreased to 4 percent per year since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This is substantially less than the average 8 percent per year premium increases prior to the law.

Insurance companies are alleging losses incurred as a result of the health-insurance exchanges and raising premiums as a result. At the same time company information indicates they appear to be doing very well. 2015 compensation for CEOs of six of the top health-insurance companies averages $15 million per year — well up from previous years. The companies report profits up from 2014 to 2015. Aetna reported achieving “record annual operating revenue and operating earnings in 2015.”

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act without an equivalent system immediately available to replace it will result in draconian impacts to the 20 million recent enrollees — and maybe to many more Americans. It is, in fact, a matter of life and death. It would appear to me that a rational, caring, governing official would seek to correct and improve the Affordable Care Act rather than repeal it. Some ideas worth consideration include: 1) Adjust the boundaries of the health-insurance exchanges to enable larger risk pools (regional pools rather than state pools). 2) Audit the insurance companies to verify appropriate allocation of revenues and costs. 3) Achieve cost savings by enabling purchase of prescription drugs from Canada or Mexico. 3) Authorize Medicaid and Medicare to negotiate prescription drug costs as is currently allowed for the Veterans Administration. 4) Limit profits by health providers and health-insurance companies. I personally cannot see how we can permit profit-making at the expense of our citizens’ health.

It’s time we eliminate ideology from our efforts to provide our citizens adequate, affordable health care. —Charles Davis, Columbia Falls

Build Montana plan is a winner

Some problems don’t go away when you ignore them.

Common colds and a heated argument tend to settle down, but the problem of inadequate infrastructure just gets worse over time. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton agreed about the need for improved infrastructure for a vigorous U.S. economy, and we have the chance to give Montana an upgrade with the Build Montana plan.

Using a fiscally responsible mix of cash and bonds, Gov. Bullock is proposing modernizing our infrastructure so businesses will see Big Sky Country as a reliable, high-functioning place to bring their good-paying jobs. When Montanans show our pride by investing in water and wastewater systems, roads and bridges, and schools and universities, companies are more likely to want to invest here, too.

Passing the Build Montana plan is a double win. We get jobs as we rebuild and even more down the road as more companies make Montana their home. —Paige Rappleye, Kalispell

Protect elderly and caregivers

I am activity director at Lakeview Health Care in Bigfork. By sharing my personal knowledge of how proposed budget cuts will impact the residents I work with, I hope to help elevate the voices of folks who are often voiceless in the legislative process.

Most residents in nursing homes only receive $50 per month. If they are under 65 years old, they receive $30 per month. Out of this grand sum of money if they want to go to the beauty shop or buy special treats or go out for meals or shop for clothing, that money doesn’t cover even part of their needs. Staff at the nursing homes try to help by paying out of their own pockets. The proposed budget cuts will be draining the pockets of those who can least afford it.

Please contact your legislators and help honor our elderly and disabled and hard working caregivers and voice your concerns. —Karyn Jones, Bigfork

Who gets a seat in the airplane?

Regarding the “Editor’s 2 cents” column from Sunday, Jan. 29, I am struck by the irony of the last paragraph, “Let’s get this straight at least — no matter what you believe, no matter who you voted for, in the United States of America you have the right to travel without being abused, the right to your own opinion without being puked on, and the right to be morally superior as long as you don’t, through your own behavior, prove that you aren’t.”

This would come as a welcome right to the 109 well behaved, educated, and vetted travelers, many with visas, some who worked closely with the American military fighting our enemies, who happen to be from countries which are primarily Muslim, who were detained, and became detained at American airports.

This is such a sad commentary on the regard for human values that the current powers in Washington, D.C., seem to have, and that are the basis of our democracy. —Pamela Deitz, Whitefish

Lesson from Ali

I ain’t got no quarrel with them Russians. They never threatened to detain me indefinitely, or murder me at will. They never called me a terrorist. They never replaced my Officer Friendly with Darth SWAT. —Roger Dwyer, Kila