To the Editor:

A recent letter writer makes a number of unsubstantiated and flat out erroneous claims about Obamacare, otherwise known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These sound like talking points from some right-wing propaganda organ.

First, the writer claims that Obamacare will cause the decline in the quality of medical care. There is absolutely no evidence for this. 

Second is the common theme that the ACA comes between the patient and doctor relationship. This too is bogus. Private insurance that denied payment for preexisting conditions certainly came between the doctor-patient relationship. Refusals by private insurance to pay for certain conditions have doomed many to death just as being uninsured has resulted in many deaths.

Third, the writer brings up costs. Private insurance takes up to 30 percent of the premiums you pay for profit, advertising, multimillion dollar executive salaries, and other “overhead.” 

The writer also criticized the coverage of contraception as driving up taxes. Availability of contraception actually saves money. It is more expensive to cover pregnancy and birth than funding contraceptives.

Finally, the writer claims that Congress passed ACA because of “bribes to fund state wish lists” without giving any examples or evidence for this. Again, propaganda without facts.

People should start looking at the facts instead of propaganda. For example, the overhead (proportion of money not available for direct care) for Medicare is under 5 percent. The overhead for private insurance ranges from around 20 percent to more than 30 percent. Now tell me which is the more efficient system.

If we are to have a discussion, at least cite facts, not phony propaganda.

Norman Hoffman

Waynesville