Andrew Poole | Support HCR12

I would like to voice my support for this bill for a few reasons, but most importantly because it is fiscally responsible, and morally correct. As we all know, health insurance is supported by healthy individuals who opt into the system, and do not take as much in benefits as those who need care. When healthy individuals opt out of health insurance it becomes more expensive, leaving vulnerable populations with higher premiums and less coverage. By enacting Medicare for all it increases the pool of healthy individuals to all taxpayers, and guarantees our entire population has the necessary healthcare in the most necessary moments, and lowers the overall cost of healthcare by cutting out for-profit insurers who seek to monetize and profit off of the need for medical care. Current for-profit health insurance incentivizes denial of care in order to make the middle-men selling that health insurance more profitable, and that is not a moral or ethical position to take in a society seeking to maximize the potential of its population. The argument that taxes to fund programs like this are unethical is easily dismissed when we consider that health and well-being is a national security issue, as a sick population is a vulnerable population. In the same way we require taxes to fund public services like police, fire departments, military, and infrastructure, funding Medicare for all will result in a better served, and thus more productive society. Many downstream effects of this program are also evident, such as less car accidents due to eye care coverage, or reducing medical events behind the wheel. Preventative care also helps workers maintain their most productive status, and keeps them focused on their work instead of having to treat or manage issues they haven’t been able to seek proper care for. A national healthcare system would also take the burden off of employers to provide healthcare to employees, and that will remove barriers to entry for individuals looking to start a business. These are just a few examples of how Medicare for all would benefit us as a society, but simply from a personal and patriotic level I see that we are the only developed country without a national healthcare system, and my belief is that if other countries can do it, then we can do it better.