Just start over
I am shocked and disappointed at President Obama’s plan to use the reconciliation process to pass the health-care bill [“Obama on health care: Just get it done,” page one, March 4]. The bill is way too long and complicated and it does not have the broad support of the American people.
They should start over building it from the ground up, piece by piece, listening respectfully to the people and not lording over us like we are the stupid ones: “Oh, I know the American people say they do not want this, but they don’t understand, they will appreciate it when we pass it.” We are not stupid, listen to us.
It is rare in the U.S. for Congress to attempt to pass such a significant measure without strong support from all sectors. President Obama and Congress should respect history, break from the hypnotic trance and do what is truly right for America: Start over on health care.
— Paul Fuglevand, Redmond
Hippocratic health-care-reform oath: ‘Do no harm’ to existing care
I have read portions of President Obama’s ideas on health care. What impressed me was that very little was said about health or health care per se. Rather, the discussion was all about health insurance, employers, mandates upon individuals, families and businesses and proposed changes to the tax code to keep dollars from being driven to the health-insurance companies.
Unfortunately, I did not see anything that would reliably drive down the underlying cost of health care, reduce complexity or promote better health.
Conspicuously absent was any reliable plan to rescue Medicare. As of March 1, the reimbursement rate to doctors was scheduled to drop by 21 percent from levels which were already so low they were forcing some doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients.
It appears increasingly evident that the real driving force behind the attempt at health-care reform pushed by Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Patty Murray is to convince voters that the Democrats are doing something.
But if doing something simply means more government control and mandates, more perks for the already-favored insurance industry and hastening the demise of Medicare, then I suggest it would be better to do nothing at all. As doctors learned long ago: first do no harm.
— Arthur Coday Jr., Shoreline