To the Editor:

In his guest column “Obamacare will crush middle class” (June 14, Page A14), Edward Tharp tells us many people could see their insurance premiums increase five times what they’re paying now.

If that claim seems incredible, it literally is.

First, the report quoted is the majority (Republican) report of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a partisan document. Second, it is not quoted accurately: No group was projected to see a fivefold rise in premiums. Third, and most egregious, Mr. Tharp neglects to mention the report identifies five states — Maine being one — where premiums are expected to decrease. Those states all share the characteristics of being well-regulated already to provide quality, albeit more costly, health insurance.

The nonpartisan Congressionl Budget Office has projected that, for most Americans, there would be very little change. Those insured through their employer or through the government wouldn’t see much effect. The minority of Americans buying insurance on their own might see a premium increase — they are buying a higher quality product — in large part offset by the subsidy in Obamacare for those making less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level.

While those were mere projections, we now have actual 2014 bids from Vermont, where premiums will be pretty much the same.

Mr. Tharp’s hero, Gov. Le- Page, “rejects out of hand the centralized control of every aspect of your life that will come in Obamacare.”

Ignoring the hyperbole, what will the governor’s stated plan not to expand Medicaid cost? The nonpartisan Institute of Medicine calculated there were 20,000 excess deaths per year in the 25-64 age group associated with being uninsured. Leaving 60,000 to 70,000 Mainers uninsured, the data suggests 30 Mainers will die unnecessarily per year.

Since Mr. Tharp rejects the liberal concept of fairness from government, should this be listed under “cost of doing business” in the free market?

As for Gov. LePage, I like everything about him except his style and his substance. Fortunately, there is a treatment on the horizon: the next election.

Steven Zimmerman
Topsham