Reforming and expanding Medicare is the only solution that makes sense

“Medicare for all means security for none,” wrote Congressman Ron Estes last Sunday. While his team seems to think this is a clever line — it actually epitomizes the problem with his agenda. When he says an expansion of Medicare decreases security for all, he actually means it decreases the bloated profit margins for the insurance industry. We can do better.

Allowing Medicare to compete with insurance companies would increase services and decrease costs. Increased competition is better for everyone. That’s how the free market works. Many people in this district have great employer-provided insurance. Expanding Medicare would not take away health insurance from those that are happy with their current benefits. Expanding Medicare would provide an option for those who don’t have access to health insurance subsidized by their employer or who are self-employed. We must create competition for private insurance companies to provide affordable coverage. Opening access to Medicare provides at least one affordable option for everyone.

Medicare spends 1.4 percent of every dollar on administrative overhead, while private plans use 25 percent of every dollar on administration. Ron rails against bloated bureaucracy in the federal government. The private insurance businesses he champions spend 18 times more than government-funded insurance on their administrative bureaucracy. Medicare is the cheapest, most efficient, and most effective health insurance in this country. Expanding Medicare will make the costs we pay for health insurance about two-thirds cheaper than private insurance. We need a champion in D.C. to fight for Medicare reforms and put an end to insider deals hurting working class people.

Healthcare and prescription drug costs are out of control. Prices are so high many people can’t afford medication, let alone insurance premiums. Congress stifled the free market by refusing to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Consequently, our most vulnerable people pay exorbitant prices for drugs that should be inexpensive, such as insulin and EpiPens. This is price gouging, plain and simple. We can do better.

Ron’s mudslinging and rhetoric prove one essential fact: Ron Estes cares more about protecting the profits of his corporate campaign donors in the insurance industry than he does about fighting for average Americans.

I support efficient solutions prioritizing care for our people over profits for special interests — that’s why I don’t take corporate PAC money. We can no longer tolerate a healthcare system that allows our babies to die because they don’t have healthcare, or our seniors citizens to die because they cannot afford medicine, or our veterans with PTSD to take their own lives because they don’t have mental health care. We are better than this as a country. Reforming and expanding Medicare is the only solution that makes sense for working Kansans and small business.