The rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has not been without problems, to be sure, but that will be resolved, as it was in Massachusetts. To speak about control over treatments and what doctor one is able to see — insurance companies have done that for years.

The best thing about the ACA is that it puts some controls over what insurance companies can do and not do. They can’t refuse you because of a pre-existing condition, can’t drop you because you develop an expensive-to-treat disease, can’t discriminate on the basis of gender and there are government subsidies on a sliding scale for low-income people. Also, very important, there are minimum standards for the policies offered. Most people don’t even know what their current policies cover, and many don’t cover much at all.

Personally, I would prefer a single-power system, but far from the ACA being a socialist (gasp) plot, it is really a market-based approach to health care reform with individual responsibility.

Gail Bjorkman, Redmond