A letter to the editor in the 11/5/2026 edition of the Wallkill Valley Times tries to make the fact that the wealthiest nation the world has ever know has millions of citizens who lack health insurance sound like there are morally correct humane reasons for that awful situation, but that is an impossible task.

It is the responsibility of the government of a democracy to supply its citizens with universal coverage socialized medicine paid for by fair taxes. Democracies are not financially ruined by being moral and humane, but they can be ruined by ridiculous spending in wrong areas such as multibillion dollar wars that do not need to be fought. The actual facts are a sick toddler will not be made forever dependent on government handouts if she is saved from her sickness by government health insurance, but she may be forever dead from a curable disease if she has no health insurance. There is no morality to a system that causes unnecessary suffering and death to children.

Even though the income cutoff point for Medicaid is ridiculously low so it doesn’t cover as many Americans as it should, the recent Republican cuts to Medicaid need to be immediately reversed. After the restoration of Medicaid, America needs to move quickly to accept the Senator Bernie Sanders truth that having healthcare is a human right and a humane health insurance system in which all Americans are included needs to be established.