We hear a great deal about the 20 million people who will lose health care with the current proposals for repealing the Affordable Care Act. Under the ACA, we still have 30 million people without access to medical care, so with the proposed cuts, we would see 50 million people without access to medical care.

Our population is only 320 million.

We also hear that 30 percent of the premiums we pay to insurance companies do not go to medical care. That is a lot of money — billions. The premiums pay for administrative costs, CEO salaries, and dividends to shareholders. In addition, in order to keep the insurance companies in business and “stabilize the market,” we pay subsidies (corporate welfare) to the insurance companies out of our taxes.

I do not think we can afford this. We, the public, are paying money to support an industry that doesn’t actually do anything but push paper and money around, and neglects 50 million people.

Read the full letter at the Riverdale Press here.