Letter to the editor: Kind urged to co-author Medicare for All bill

Medicare was established in 1965 to provide public, universal healthcare coverage for Americans age 65 and older. It is one of the most successful and necessary public programs ever enacted by our Congress, and it provides a model for how we can solve the sky-rocketing costs and an insufficient healthcare system that leaves behind too many Wisconsinites on a daily basis.

As of 2017, 300,000 Wisconsinites remain uninsured. A survey by the Commonwealth Fund found that middle-income families in Wisconsin spent 11 percent of their income on premiums and deductibles in 2017. Eau Claire has the highest average cost of health insurance at $10,908, about $900 more than the state average. We live in a time where 4 out of 10 Americans are unable to pay $400 in the case of emergencies. Insulin costs have skyrocketed so that even with insurance, patients are paying thousands of dollars out of pocket per year. This has led to countless stories of people rationing their insulin, which puts them at serious risk of death. 356,000 adults and 6,500 children in Wisconsin have diabetes.

The Affordable Care Act was a vital step expanding healthcare coverage nationally, and we stand with the representatives in resisting all attempts by Republicans to repeal these life-saving policies. As Democrats have just taken back the House and try to point our country in the right direction, it is important that we have a vision for a just and equitable healthcare system.

Randy Skinner, Viroqua