HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/17/2020 Item 18, Greep
Purrington, Teresa
From:Nancy Greep <ncgreep@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, November 16, 2020 2:26 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:HR1384
Dear Councilmember . Nov 16 2020
I am writing to ask your support for a City Council resolution in favor of the Medicare for All Act
(HR1384), introduced by Rep. Jayapal and co-sponsored by Rep. Salud Carbajal. Such resolutions have already
been passed by many city councils in California and across the country.
The current pandemic has laid bare the inadequacy of our current unaffordable, fragmented healthcare
system. With private insurance tied to employment, millions of workers have lost their health insurance when
they lost their jobs. Others with insurance have such high deductibles and co-pays that they cannot afford to
access healthcare. Uninsurance and underinsurance disproportionately affect people of color who are dying at
2-3 times the rate of Caucasians.
In addition to being costly, our health insurance is bad for patients, doctors, employers and local
governments. Patients with private insurance have limited choice of provider due to narrow networks, face
job lock, surprise medical bills, and the risk of bankruptcy due to medical debt. Patients on MediCal have
difficulty finding doctors who accept their insurance and often receive inferior care-an unethical situation. Half
of doctors are experiencing burnout due to the administrative complexity of a multi-payer system. Employers
face high insurance premiums for their employees and have to pass this cost on to their products or services,
making them less competitive. The budget of our governments are being drained by the cost of providing
health insurance to their employees and thus less funds are available for community services.
Sincerely,
Nancy Greep, M.D.
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