Image with me what a really great health care system would look like. Everyone would have the piece of mind that comes with knowing that if a child was sick or injured good care would be available with a doctor of their choice. They would also know that if the family wage earner was laid off, their medical coverage would continue.

Preventative care or health care first would be their first priority of the patient and the medical caregiver. Emergency rooms would not be overrun with non-insured patients and hospitals would not need to raise costs for paying patients to cover cost associated with those unable to pay.

Because the numbers of patients covered by universal care would be so huge, they would give major negotiating status in dealing with big pharmacies for prescription medicines and with HMOs and hospitals for their services.

These are just a few of the benefits of a universal healthcare system from the standpoint of the average citizen.

From the standpoint of the caregivers, they would not have to deal with a selection of the 1,300 current insurance providers, but with one entity. This should allow more efficient billing practices among other benefits.

Why congressional republicans keep prattling about the need to keep insurers in business baffles me. We should not need CEOs being paid hundreds of thousands and bloated staffs which bring their overhead costs to 15 percent to 30 percent. Our government has about 3 percent overhead for medicare administration. That difference alone would cut national healthcare costs by a bundle.

The kind of healthcare program we imagined would be good for all of us, except those who are benefiting so handsomely from the current system.

Benita Helseth

Lake Stevens