We should talk about providing health care, not insurance

In the debate over the future of the Affordable Care Act, the Republicans focus on the cost and availability of health insurance. Too often Democrats and others share this focus.

But this is not the issue that needs to be debated. The issue is that the GOP wants to reduce the investment in health care and prevention by giving a tax break of $274 billion to the wealthiest Americans and reducing payments for health care to those insured by Medicare and Medicaid and others covered through the Affordable Care Act.

With the proposed GOP plan, people can save money by not buying insurance or by buying insurance that does not cover their needs. The GOP plan reduces costs by increasing illness and death.​

The debate should be focused on how we provide health care, not health insurance.

Dr. Henry Wortis​

Cambridge

I propose that we rename the Republicans’ American Health Care Act something like the “GOP Wealth Care Over Health Care Plan.’’ Really, this is what this thing is. Let us not agree to the language with which the GOP chooses to disguise its agenda. Yes, the Affordable Care Act needs fixing, but not at the expense of its actual purpose, to provide health care for the underprivileged and underserved.

Jana Howe

Mont Vernon, N.H.

GOP alternative doesn’t stack up

So this is what you get when you judge the value of a health care proposal by the size of the stack of paper it makes on a table. Who knew it would be so complicated?

Sharyn Davis

Natick

A la carte policy? Does that apply to all government spending?

Through the Republican health care bill, House Speaker Paul Ryan wants to reduce the burden of “expensive, one-size-fits-all coverage’’ and allow more individual choices about paying for what we “want and can afford.’’

Maybe he can give me similar choices about my tax dollars that are allocated to military spending.

W.D. Stefanowicz

Burlington