U.S. Health Care Battle Continues

WASHINGTON (AP) – America’s much-maligned health care system is covering 9 out of 10 people. But that fact hasn’t stopped the 2020 presidential candidates from refighting battles about how to provide coverage, from Bernie Sanders’ calls for replacing private insurance with a government plan to President Donald Trump’s pledge to erase the Affordable Care Act and start over. They depict a system in meltdown. The numbers tell a different story, not as dire. Government surveys show about 90 percent of the population has coverage. And independent experts estimate that more than half of the roughly 30 million uninsured are eligible for health insurance through existing programs. Now the bigger issue seems to be that many people with health insurance struggle to pay their deductibles and copays. About 44 million are deemed underinsured.