Dear Future President,

One of two candidates have by now been chosen to become our president. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act was enforced under President Obama. This has created large controversy over the last 6 years. I may not know much about politics, but healthcare costs affect me. We should be finding ways to lower the cost of healthcare in the United States. We should be lowering the price of prescription drugs, making tax returns available through government insurance, and making insurance available to lower income homes. We could achieve lower costing healthcare by encouraging competition and generic brands of prescription drugs, creating a uniform, government-run health insurance program that could apply to everyone, and by doubling funding to community healthcare centers.

The United States today spends the most money per capita on healthcare than in any other country, at around $9,000, as reported by KQED. According to the Hillary Clinton website, “Prescription drug spending accelerated from 2.5 percent in 2013 to 12.6 percent in 2014.” We need to decrease the cost of prescription drugs so medicine is available to more people. The monopoly in the prescription drug industry is causing higher costs of prescription drugs. To resolve this growing problem, we should increase competition by encouraging generic brands. By making drug companies invest more in research and less in direct to consumer advertising we can lower prices across the country.

We should make tax credits an addition to choosing government-run healthcare. This would encourage people to choose a uniform, simple healthcare plan that could apply to everyone. It would prevent people from overpaying for more than they need. It would also lower taxes. According to Donald Trump’s website, more than deductibles around the country are rising to around $5,000. To reduce these costs, we should create laws to prevent high copays and deductibles.

By doubling funding to community healthcare centers we could lower the cost of overall healthcare. To do this, we should add community healthcare centers to rural areas to make healthcare more accessible. Healthcare centers currently serve 1 in 13 people and 1 in 10 children, according to the Bureau of Primary Health Care. By supporting the community healthcare centers, we could make quality care affordable and accessible even to lower income populations. It would also take pressure off larger, more specialized hospitals.

Another perspective of how to lower healthcare costs would be to deport all undocumented immigrants. I don't think deportation of immigrants is an option because it would be more expensive, even in the long run, to deport undocumented immigrants. Some claim it currently costs around 11 billion dollars to provide healthcare to all undocumented immigrants. We should help all immigrants get insurance to lower that cost. I think we should instead work more to help them become documented citizens, but that is another letter.

So, it is up to you Mr. or Mrs. President. It is imperative we continue to lower healthcare costs by lowering prescription drug costs, allowing more people access to quality insurance, and making tax credits a bonus if you buy into government healthcare. If we do not, we will have more and more people without insurance and not being able to receive the quality healthcare they deserve. American citizens, individuals and families alike, would benefit from these policies by receiving quality healthcare at a fair price.

Sincerely,

Lexi H.