Althea Dunscombe - Five simple steps needed to protect consumers of health care

To The Daily Sun,

Issue: When the ACA went into effect the health insurance companies not only raised premiums but in order to be able to meet the mandate and have a premium they could afford, families were forced to choose the now ridiculously high deductibles. Since the inception of the ACA many families have essentially not had health care coverage except for catastrophic events because from year-to-year they have not met the deductible.

I have emailed our senators and congresswoman since the inception of the ACA, letting them know how this has affected members of my family. They have only defended the ACA, not once recognizing the issues I raised or offering any solutions. Many of us agree that term limits is a good idea and citizens of this country do not have to wait for our elected officials to vote that in. Hell will freeze well before that happens. But we can make this happen. We do not need them to approve it. Simple. Don’t vote for anyone who has already served two terms in either the House or the Senate. Give somebody else a chance!

With these five simple mandates, they could fix this one issue of the ACA but that would mean going up against powerful health insurance companies and I’m sure they are big donors.

Mandate #1: Health Insurance companies may not raise premium rates, deductibles, term or how and what is covered from those in effect on January 1, 2021 for the next seven years.

Mandate #2: Health Insurance companies must begin 50/50 payments of health care costs once the first $1,000 of the deductible has been met; no exceptions, no exclusions.

Mandate #3: Health Insurance companies must begin 75/25 payments of health care costs once total of $2,000 of the deductible has been met; no exceptions, no exclusions.

Mandate #4: Health Insurance companies must begin and continue 80/20 payments of health costs once the deductible has been met during the term of the policy, no exceptions, no exclusions.

Problem solved: The damage done to the American people with the astronomical deductible is the biggest problem with the ACA. Fix that and most people will accept it. Go against the health insurance industry can be perilous, but we elected you for fight for us — not them.

Althea Dunscombe

Center Harbor