Sen. Roger Marshall's ACA claims and new plan don’t add up | Opinion

Care shopping?

Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall’s latest newsletter makes one thing clear: He doesn’t understand how health coverage works. He complains that 35% of Affordable Care Act enrollees didn’t file any claims last year. Senator, that’s how insurance works. When more healthy people stay covered, premiums stay stable for everyone.

His so-called “fix” — the proposed Patients Deserve Price Tags Act — is to tell Americans to be smarter consumers of health care, as if bargain-hunting could repair a system controlled by insurers, not patients. Anyone who’s needed an X-ray, blood draw or CT scan knows patients don’t choose where to go or what we’ll pay — insurers do.

While transparency matters, no one “shops around” for a cheaper provider if their plan won’t cover it. And no one in an emergency should have to compare ambulance rates before calling 911.

If Congress lets the expanded ACA subsidies expire, millions of small-business owners and self-employed Americans like me will see premiums double and triple. Meanwhile, corporations can keep claiming bonus deductions for private jets, a benefit Sen. Marshall voted to make permanent. Both benefits cost roughly the same.

- Tepring Crocker, Overland Park

Too late

As I watched the “No Kings” protests recently, a thought came to me:

Where were these people last Nov. 5?

- Daniel M. Meier, Village of Loch Lloyd

A dream?

Never in my wildest dreams did I think Israel would be accused of genocide. (Oct. 23, 6A, “World court tells Israel to facilitate aid to Gaza”)

- James Dunn, Kansas City

Kept his word

Democrats’ constant political and racist slurs are outrageous. Calling someone a “Nazi” because they are white or conservative is every bit as dehumanizing as the other N-word. A politician who is lawfully elected based on campaign pledges and promises, and then follows through on those campaign promises, isn’t a king or an “authoritarian” or a “fascist.” He is simply a man of his word, and that is something in short supply on the other side of the aisle.

- Frank Green, Kansas City

Tariff truth

Since Adam Smith’s analysis on free trade “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” almost 250 years ago, we’ve understood that imposing a tariff has always caused a trade war. The current presidential administration’s tariffs on China offer an example, resulting in higher prices on all sides.

The market will always seek lower prices and higher productivity. The best approach is to encourage local supply and imports from other countries and discourage theft of intellectual property. But that doesn’t happen overnight.

- Shel Roufa, Leawood

Most vulnerable

The federal government shutdown has become an impending crisis for thousands of older Missourians. The funding lapse directly threatens home-delivered meals and the crucial safety checks provided by our Area Agencies on Aging.

Older adults rely on this daily delivery for primary nutrition. More critically, the knock on the door is a daily safety check by dedicated staff. Without it, vulnerable individuals living alone face severe risks of injury or illness going unnoticed. This preventative service is a necessity, not charity.

Although our local AAAs are resilient, they cannot operate indefinitely on empty promises. Federal allocations, primarily through the Older Americans Act, are the backbone of this support system. Congress must recognize the immediate, unsustainable strain its inaction puts on our communities.

We urge every member of our delegation to take immediate action to pass the necessary appropriations bill and restore Older Americans Act funding. Protecting the dignity and health of our older population should be the easiest vote they cast.

If your situation allows, please support your local Area Agency on Aging and senior center.

Reopen the government and protect our older adults.

- Julie Peetz, Executive director, Missouri Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Jefferson City

‘Welfare state’?

On Oct. 27, The Star published a commentary by Allison Schrager under the ridiculous headline, ”Can America afford to reopen the government?” (7A) The piece calls the United States a “welfare state,” suggesting that social spending causes our deficit spending. This is pure rubbish.

One significant deficit producer is reduced tax revenue from wealthy Americans. That is a significant element in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed this summer. It gives continued tax breaks to wealthy Americans, while giving death sentences to Americans in need of health care and food. Republican administrations have been building enormous deficits for years because of their tax policies.

A second significant deficit-producer is defense spending. The Trump administration proposes to increase defense spending more than $100 billion to around $1 trillion. In fact, if true defense spending is included in the conversation, it has been well above $1 trillion for a long time. Spending on veterans and military retirement pay is budgeted outside the Department of Defense and totals about $500 billion yearly.

Records dating to 1980 show the obvious impact increased defense spending has had on the U.S. deficit.

We are not a welfare state. We are a military-industrial complex.

- David Pack, Lenexa