Obamacare repeal hurts business
In the national debate about health care, the voices of small-business owners are often eclipsed by partisan rhetoric. As a small-business owner, I’m writing to flag to our politicians that quality affordable health care is essential for entrepreneurs and their communities. The health care plan moving through the Senate threatens Main Street from all sides.
My husband and I own a small business, a green design and building company for average-income clients like our neighbors. We were born and raised here, and we moved back when it was time to take on two major life challenges — starting a family and starting a business.
Before the Affordable Care Act, private insurance was unaffordable, and I was employed elsewhere in order to keep our young family covered. With the Affordable Care Act, I could focus full time on our business. Since then, our business has quintupled, which is great for our community. We’re able to employ more local plumbers, electricians and carpenters, and purchase more local materials such as lumber.
The GOP repeal bill badly hurts business by introducing a lot of uncertainty into our local economy. Under it, 22 million people would go without insurance and Medicaid spending would be cut by $772 billion.
What happens to our community when people get sick without insurance? What happens to the local economy when Maine’s Medicaid dollars disappear and the bottom falls out? How many of our average-income clients will feel confident enough in their financial futures to hire us when their premiums jump next year?
Emily Ingwersen
Arundel
New laws won’t stop gun violence
In response to Dave Witham’s June 26 BDN letter to the editor, I would like to state that the shooter of the Republican members of Congress at the baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, went through the legal process to purchase the two firearms he used.
It is indeed frustrating to someone who does not know the process of acquiring a firearm legally, but it is indeed hard if not impossible to discern if someone who carries a grudge or is mentally disturbed decides to use violence with these firearms.
New laws will not stop someone with this agenda. Thankfully the Capitol police were there to stop this politically deranged individual.
Darrold Dorr
Franklin
Lives on the line with Senate health bill
We hear that thousands will die from the health bill that Congress is trying to push for approval, but that message doesn’t seem to get through to enough people.
How about a more graphic message. I see millions of people — myself included — standing on a high cliff, and we see a hand extended to pull us from the edge to keep us from falling. But when the hand gets close, that hand give us a push and down we go.
Not pleasant, is it?
We need to start screaming now, loud and clear for single-payer health care. That is the only health program that works, and it is a proven one — just ask our neighbors in Canada or France and England.
And pray!
Rella Bezanilla
Madawaska
Implement ranked-choice voting
I strongly hope our Legislature will quickly implement ranked-choice voting for the 2018 elections for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and for state primaries. As a state, we voted for ranked-choice voting last November, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court found no constitutional issues for using ranked-choice voting for these elections, so it’s time for our Legislature to respect the will of the people. As we have affirmed as a state, ranked-choice voting will improve our people’s choices in elections, so let us move forward with this process quickly.
David Grinstein
Searsport
The beauty of acceptance and tolerance
Sitting around the dining room table the other morning while visiting with my sister and mom and discussing what we feel is the sad trend in politics and the world of news, we happened across the June 24 BDN article about the LGBT farmers in Morrill. What a beautiful story about acceptance and tolerance, the way life should be.
With the charged atmosphere surrounding politics and equality, where everything seems to be dividing the country and the world, it is nice to know there are still places where love and friendliness still exists. We are all different. Each of us have strengths that should be celebrated, weaknesses to be worked on, and differences of opinion that should be respected and taken into consideration when problems need to be solved. People should not be judged or labeled. Who you are should be based more on the kind of person you are. Do you live by the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you?
This act of kindness from the town of Morrill should stand as an example for the rest of Maine, New England, our great nation, and the world.
Michele Martin-Moore
Springvale
Wealthy profit from Senate health bill
Millions will lose health care coverage and thousands will die if the cruel Republican health care bill is passed.
Who will profit? Investors in insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies will see their profits rise. Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini was compensated with a $27.9 million package in 2016. Other top health insurance CEOs were compensated with $17.3 million in 2015. The top 2 percent of the wealthiest will get tax breaks under the Senate health care bill.
We need Medicare for all, designed to provide health care not for a profit, as nearly all other industrialized countries have done. Thanks to Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King for planning to vote “no” on the Republican health care proposal, which was crafted in secret and rushed to a vote without adequate discussion. We can improve the Affordable Care Act, but there will continue to be problems as long as profit, not health, is the motive for coverage.
How do we pay for Medicare for all? It’s time for bold solutions. Let’s stop paying for advertising by insurance and drug companies and their lobbyists. Let’s stop paying for insurance companies to put patients through hoops before reimbursing health care providers. Let’s invest in illness prevention jobs, and jobs to ensure clean air and water. Let’s stop spending billions on war and nuclear weapons that should never be used and put the whole world at risk.
Ilze Petersons
Orono