{"id":308710,"date":"2010-02-11T18:01:11","date_gmt":"2010-02-11T23:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2011049363_healthcarecompromiseordeadinthewater.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2010-02-11T18:01:11","modified_gmt":"2010-02-11T23:01:11","slug":"health-care-compromise-or-dead-in-the-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/308710","title":{"rendered":"Health care: compromise or dead in the water?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Health care not a one-time expense<\/strong><\/p>\n

Editor, The Times:<\/p>\n

E.J. Dionne Jr. applauds Congressman Jay Inslee for his \u201cfinish-the-kitchen\u201d tale [\u201cInslee: \u2018Finish the kitchen,\u2019\u201d Opinion, Feb. 9]. Inslee is praised for comparing his problem with kitchen contractors and plumbers with the \u201cObamacare\u201d health-reform bills languishing in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

But if the comparison were remotely valid, then it might justify Dionne\u2019s column. Both Dionne and Inslee conveniently ignore the obvious: Inslee\u2019s kitchen \u2014 once finished \u2014 is forever paid for, but Obamacare must be paid for over and over.<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t it be wonderful if \u2014 having passed Obamacare in some form \u2014 the only obligation Inslee and the taxpayer had is to get together for a beer once a year. Unfortunately, Inslee\u2019s beer will cost trillions. I could live without regret if I had Inslee\u2019s old kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u2014 James Axtell, Des Moines<\/em><\/p>\n

Bless Inslee for pushing health care<\/strong><\/p>\n

As many of us Democrats sit aghast at the inability of our party to pass health-insurance reform \u2014 or anything else \u2014 we ask, \u201cWhere are the leaders? Where are the legislators who will not cower before corporate donors and 41 Republicans in a 100-member Senate?\u201d<\/p>\n

According to E.J. Dionne Jr. in his Feb. 9 column, one of them is right here in our state. Bless Jay Inslee for \u201ccalming Democrats\u2019 nerves\u201d and urging them to \u201cfinish the kitchen.\u201d His kitchen story helps demonstrate what is unrealistic about Republicans\u2019 calls to start over.<\/p>\n

Yes, the health-care bills may look like a mess, but they represent the best that can emerge at this time from the competing ideas and interests that formed them into what they are.<\/p>\n

Now, using the ample legislative tools Dionne describes, the Democrats must simply find the spine to pass them.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Michael Kischner, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Issue hits home<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read the article in this Tuesday\u2019s Times about how the Obama administration has asked California\u2019s largest for-profit health insurer to justify plans to raise customers\u2019 premiums by as much as 39 percent, a move that could affect some 800,000 customers [\u201cWhite House asks insurer to justify hike,\u201d News, Feb. 9].<\/p>\n

My response to that is: That\u2019s nothing! Our very own huge, for-profit Northwest insurance company, Regence BlueShield, raised the premiums for my MedAdvantage Enhanced plan by 76 percent starting Jan. 1. My deductibles and co-pays were also increased substantially. As we know, these MedAdvantage plans are even subsidized by the federal government. That makes this even more of an outrage.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sally Rutherford, retired advanced nurse practitioner, Bellevue<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Health care not a one-time expense Editor, The Times: E.J. Dionne Jr. applauds Congressman Jay Inslee for his \u201cfinish-the-kitchen\u201d tale [\u201cInslee: \u2018Finish the kitchen,\u2019\u201d Opinion, Feb. 9]. Inslee is praised for comparing his problem with kitchen contractors and plumbers with the \u201cObamacare\u201d health-reform bills languishing in Washington, D.C. But if the comparison were remotely valid, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2861,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-308710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2861"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308710\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}