Healthcare Should Be the Most Important Issue in 2024

Healthcare Saves Lives and Families

Greedflations come and go. I have experienced several in my nearly 77 years. However, a costly healthcare emergency could destroy your family’s future. This should be the most important issue in our 2024 election.

I will use myself as an example. My wife and I have a single income, Social Security. We cannot afford Medicare Part B. A single night in a hospital has an average cost of $2,873. Over a 20-hour period, I received five tests. Between the cost of a room and those tests, my bill was almost as much as I made in a year.

Healthcare: The Affordable Care Act was Just a Beginning

In 2023, about 9.2 percent of all Americans have no healthcare. That translates into about 30 million. That is about nine times the population of my state of Nevada.

My wife and I have Medicare part A, which is basically crisis insurance. No doctor’s visits, etc., are available to us. We would like to have part B, but we cannot afford the premiums. It was a choice: either pay our mortgage and other necessities or buy an insurance policy. What we do not understand is that after working all of our adult lives, and contributing to Social Security and Medicare, why we are required to pay any premium.

America is not “the Richest,” or “the Greatest Country” in the World

Politicians love to claim that “America is the richest country in the world.” This is misleading. They should be truthful and say, “seven percent of all Americans compose the wealthiest nation in the world.”

The United States is rated last on the list of all developed nations in “quality of life.” It is also at the bottom of the list in education, and at the top of the list in misogyny, racism, and bigotry.

One-half of all Americans live in two demographics: low-income and impoverished. This means that a single medical crisis, one expensive operation, or the need for a life-saving pharmaceutical that costs thousands of dollars per dose, would force one-half of our nation’s families into homelessness.

Take a Look at Reality

I cringe every time I hear the lie, “America is the Greatest Nation in the World.” Ask yourselves two questions: “why is America the only developed nation without universal healthcare, and why are nations which offer healthcare for all rated highly in ‘quality of life?’”

It’s Time Our Government Performed its only Purpose

Our politicians consider healthcare a “privilege,” not a “right,” and herein lies the problem. Taxpayers pay the salaries of all 545 men and women in Washington who control the futures of 331 million. We also pay for their health insurance and retirement benefits. They work for us, but they don’t choose to perform the jobs for which they were elected. One entire party is opposed to universal healthcare. If they don’t vote for you, why do you vote for them?

Please remember this when you cast your vote in November of 2024. If your government won’t take care of you, take care of yourself. Your vote is a powerful tool, use it wisely.

By James Turnage

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Sources:

Valuepenguin: Average Hospital Stay in US Costs 504 Hours of Work

Moneygeek: The Number of Americans Without Health Insurance

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of MYD Photos‘ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License