Letter: Address large deductibles with Medicare for all

The Jan. 8 H-T headline proclaimed, “IU Health: Hundreds of patients cannot get surgeries” as the hospital has been overwhelmed by COVID patients. Colonoscopies, breast biopsies, knee replacements and more were postponed.

You might easily miss this bit from the sixth paragraph, “Some patients have had to reschedule their surgeries for the third time since the pandemic began which, beyond potential medical complications, also is raising their out-of-pocket costs as the start of a new year means the patients have to meet their deductible anew.”

This outrageous insult-to-injury scenario could only happen in America. With deductibles commonly over $10,000 annually, many of us will not be able to afford that procedure now. And what about our friends at Anthem, Humana, UnitedHealth? Couldn’t be better for them — they were going to actually have to put out some money at the end of the year — now that’s all profit.

Medicare is the program that already takes care of everyone over 65, the sickest and most expensive Americans. All we need to do is drop that age to birth, and this problem goes away. Everyone is covered, nobody is left out, and huge deductibles are just a bitter memory.

Robert Stone, Bloomington

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Letter: Annual insurance deductibles outrageous