As I listen to the debates about reform to our health-care system, most politicians and political commentators seem to feel the need to say that the U.S has the best system in the world, but this simply is not true.

We are one of the few advanced countries that doesn’t have a government run or single-payer system and we rank below these countries in health-care outcomes. We do not need to start from scratch – we have many well functioning health-care systems around the world to study.

No system will be perfect but ours in a cost-for-benefit ratio is unacceptable. If profit for greedy and powerful corporations wasn’t a political consideration, our system would have been scrapped decades ago.

Please put the single-payer option on the table. We need to take care of our citizens not profit-driven, multinational corporations when it comes to the health of our country.

Arnie Kubiak

Bainbridge Island