To the editor:

I would like to take issue with Charles Krauthammer’s claim that “Covering more people costs more money” with regard to universal health care. In fact, going to a single-payer, universal health care system would save taxpayers about $350 billion a year, according to a recent Congressional Budget Office study, the same CBO that found that a single-payer system would save $193 billion a year when the Clintons were trying to get their health care program through Congress.

We know that countries with universal, single-payer health care are spending 8-9 percent of their GDP to our 16-17 percent of GDP and having much better health outcomes. Our life expectancy is now 45th, behind Bosnia and Jordan, while our infant mortality rate is 28th, behind Cuba (according to the N.Y. Times).

So will the Obama/Baucus/Kennedy plans save money? Nope. Why? Because their plans all call for keeping private insurance plans. This means that over 30 percent of our health dollars will still go for administrative costs. Probably what’s most interesting is that both nationally and in Kansas, well over 60 percent of our citizens say they’re ready for single payer.

I like to think that eventually our politicians will decide that our health and well-being are more important than insurance and Big Pharma profits. Meanwhile, I urge all citizens to support H.R. 676 — no co-pays, no deductibles, no co-insurance, no pre-existing conditions, no medical bankruptcy, just modest taxes and universal medical and dental care.

Winterburg is from Lawrence