The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 5, 2009

Your View: Health care questions must be answered

By Bill Gustafson, St. Peter

Can we find a health insurance plan that shall cover all Americans? We must first inquire what coverage is generally provided.

What kind of coverage is provided to our federal senators and representatives, our judicial officers, our state senators and representatives, our county officials, public school employees and other public servants? Also, what kind of coverage is provided to most national union members, and at what cost?

Does the employee pay any portion of this coverage? The taxpayers pay all of these medical insurance costs for public employees, and we have a right to know what we are paying.

My suggestion is newspapers should publish the answers to what insurance coverage is provided to our public service leaders. Otherwise, we will end up with two systems: One for political and public servants and one for all other Americans.

Any health care reform should provide equal insurance coverage to all citizens. But to do so, we must know the answers to the above questions.

Should the cost be apportioned equally to all citizens? Or should it be apportioned based on level of earnings? An increase of 3 or 5 percent on people earning over $500,000 seems fair.

But what about the tax disparity in providing health care insurance? If an employer provides to an employee, at no cost, an elite plan to cover everything — with no deductibles — at a cost to the employer of $1,000 per month, and another employee gets an average medical plan for $200 a month, the first employee would get the difference of $800 per month tax-free.

If we were to tax this difference it would help to pay the cost.

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