Single-payer is the best way to go

Insurance companies discriminate. They also disallow, delay and deny. They can refuse to pay for costly medicine or procedures that could save your life - they can, in fact, declare by their withdrawal from you - your death.

If you have not had a personal experience like this from your own insurance company, chances are that you know someone who has. The insurance companies need competition from some entity who can 'level the playing field' and lower the cost for all of us.

The insurance companies are not going to do this by themselves. Don't believe their self-serving ads and scare tactics - they want to continue to collect their outrageous premiums and deliver their disappointing compensations - all the while driving up the need for more bureaucracies and paperwork.

It is time to end the stranglehold that private insurance companies have had on our citizens. It is estimated that 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies occur because of medical bills. That number should be appalling to us.

It means that each one of us is just one illness away from certain financial ruin in this country. Why continue on the insurance company roller-coaster?

Please support the efforts for single-payer, portable and affordable insurance for everyone. It is peace of mind for all of us.

Judy Arenas

Arlington Heights