The familiar mantra “Our health care industry is broken” is off the mark. We Americans want and expect health insurance companies to put their insured first, to strive to fully meet the medical needs of their customers. The problem is that most health insurance companies are formed as profit-making companies. According to their structure and the laws that govern them, their responsibility and loyalty is not to their insured but to their shareholders. Which means they are obligated to do whatever it takes to maximize profits and thereby maximize benefits for their shareholders.
Instead of trying to make for-profits operate like non-profits, we as a country, through our elected representatives, MUST go for it through some iteration of Medicare for All.
JUDITH HORTON
Coeur d’Alene
