Single-payer maligned

The hatchet job, “Medicare For All,” by Robert Samuelson (Feb. 10) may be due to an ideological abhorrence of socialized medicine. The Spokesman-Review should run an essay countering those arguments and explain the positive side of single-payer systems.

Of course, to accomplish single-payer it takes a Democratic administration and Congress. In the pros and cons shown on Google there is little mention of the following:

-All dental, vision, long-term care and other medical services should be covered.

-Congress should address the high costs of drugs and why we fund most drug research as taxpayers but we get zero in return.

-The government is in a better position to negotiate drug pricing.

-Although Canada is slow to provide care in non-life threatening situations, emergency care is immediate.

-The need for doctors and nurses is increasing. Eliminating the high cost of college tuition will benefit the medical professions.

Joseph Wythe

Sandpoint