Privatizing Medicare
would hurt millions
Donald Trump has threatened to privatize Medicare. There’s a major threat to Medicare in privatizing it. This would severely undermine traditional Medicare by making private Medicare Advantage plans the default program for everyone who is newly eligible.
Currently, those who are eligible for Medicare already have options for so-called “advantage” plans if they want them, and many find them to be a disadvantage!
These private plans have great profit outcomes for the insurance companies, but terrible health outcomes for the actual patients. Medicare Advantage plans regularly deny coverage for essential treatments and services, forcing patients to forgo the care they need.
Our tax dollars should not be used to pad the pockets of insurance CEOs, especially at the expense of seniors and people with disabilities.
Over 65 million Americans rely on Medicare for their health care, and over 400,000 people become newly eligible each year. Their health and lives are at stake in privatization plans.
Leave Medicare alone. Better yet, try Medicare for all, so we all have an equal and even playing field. It should be the same for politicians, CEOs and laborers or workers.
Advantage plans give the advantage to the insurance companies, not to the insured patients. Advantage plan members often feel gouged for essential care, and patients covered by it are more likely to die in the month following major cancer surgeries than patients who have traditional Medicare.
What does that mean? It means that advantage plan defaults would put our lives in jeopardy to line the pockets of private investors. Please do not be fooled by such political tactics.
Darlene Viggiano
Pahoa
Trust needs to
change its plan
Queen Lili‘uokalani Trust’s plans for the Makalapua Project District (Tribune-Herald, March 19) need to be scrutinized closely.
We need more housing, but more of the affordable type — not high-end housing.
We don’t need more commercial/retail/accommodation space. You can see there is a glut that remains empty over several years.
Crossroads, Niumalu Marketplace, Makalapua Center, Kona International Market come to mind. QLT needs to redevelop the latter two complexes before proceeding with this new development.
I respect the need to maintain a revenue stream that will help Native Hawaiian children, but that can be accomplished by redeveloping the Kona International Market and Makalapua Center, which largely sit empty and not generating revenue for the trust. Kmart alone was paying $2 million in yearly lease rent.
QLT needs to reevaluate their plans and organically redevelop the areas I mentioned before proceeding with this massive project makai of Kona Commons.
Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona
