My Point of View by John Forman

 

I worked the Republican booth at the fair one afternoon last week. I was very happy by the response by both Republicans and Democrats to my offer of have a good day and is there anything you would like to discuss. Only two one-finger salutes out of the many people who passed by the booth and lots of “Have a nice day” and “Thanks for being willing to spend some time working the booth.” We are lucky to live in an area where you can express support for President Trump without the threat of physical violence that we see in other areas of the country. It’s strange that none of these unprovoked attacks are prosecuted as a hate crime even though they readily admit they hate Trump and his supporters. The fact is a lot of the attacks aren’t even prosecuted. I guess freedom of speech extends to a punch in the face in some areas.

One issue that came up several times was Medicare for all, and I was surprised at the comments, “You’re retired and get free Medicare, why should everyone not get free healthcare?” Some people actually believe Medicare is free! I explained to a person in their 30s that part A medicare is provided free as long as you paid into Medicare for 10 years before retiring. If not, there is a charge. Part B of Medicare is taken out of your Social Security check before it is deposited in the bank, usually around $140 per month. You then purchase a part C or D supplement, which costs about $100 per month. Most supplements will have deductibles and co-pays for medical, dental and drugs. My plan has a maximum out of pocket of $10,000 before it pays 100% of medical cost after that threshold is reached. Sounds like a lot doesn’t it? But wait, that is the cost for one person, so if you are married, you can double all the amounts above.

I checked several websites for the actual cost of medical care for a retired person, and they were all around $7,500 per person, or $15,000 per couple. I know some people are saying, “Yes, but older people have more health problems,” but remember they usually do not have any kids.

The people looking for free health care should be saying Medicaid for all, and then you would need a law requiring all hospitals and clinics to take Medicaid patients since many are not taking them now due to below-cost reimbursement rates. We need to work on health care costs, but forget about the word free. The Canadian system uses a combination of taxes and insurance premiums to pay for health care, but they also lower expectations of service to help control cost. Most procedures will have a 20-week wait. The Canadian system also prioritizes patients based on age and expected outcomes. Are we ready for more controls on our healthcare decisions?

We need to support our federal and state Republican legislators. There will be a well supported focus on Hagedorn as a freshman in Congress, and national groups will be pulling out all the stops in the next year of campaigning. Big money will be spent distorting everything that he has said or done. We need to remember the truth usually falls victim to this type of attack and news media tends to favor the other side. Funds will be needed to counter these attacks, so please give if you can to keep America great.

John Forman is a member of the Freeborn County Republican Party.