The next president needs to fix our health care system fast. Costs are spiraling out of control. America’s experiment of using private employer-based insurance is off the rails, and we’re the only developed country using it.

But we have a better health care system in place already. It lets people keep their doctors and provides great care at affordable prices – often the price is zero. This system, of course, is Medicare, and for seniors, it’s non-negotiable.

The next president should improve the rules of Medicare to cover children and allow adults under 65 the option of paying to enroll. What do the adults pay? Adults should pay for their own coverage and chip in for seniors and kids, too.

We’re essentially already doing this through the Obamacare privatized system. The problem is that we’re also paying insurance company shareholder dividends, profits, CEO salaries, bonuses and guaranteeing insurance companies noncompetitive markets where prices spiral out of control.

Americans can take control again by improving the already functional Medicare system. This could be one of the many options that low-income citizens could buy through Obamacare, and it would provide better coverage at a lower price than the competition. This rule change would create dramatic savings and efficiencies for the U.S. economy without raising taxes.

One last thing: My 28 teeth and two eyeballs are as important as the rest of my wonderful organs (except the oddball appendix). They should be covered by the newly expanded Medicare just like any other body part and not require separate insurance policies. Obviously.

David Holman

North Yarmouth