{"id":377124,"date":"2010-03-01T19:46:39","date_gmt":"2010-03-02T00:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2011227146_aftermathofhealthcaresummit.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2010-03-01T19:46:39","modified_gmt":"2010-03-02T00:46:39","slug":"aftermath-of-health-care-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/377124","title":{"rendered":"Aftermath of health-care summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claims about best health care in world are a bunch of hogwash<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the health-care summit on Thursday, several senators and representatives stated that, \u201cThe United States has the best health-care system in the world\u201d [\u201cDems may go it alone as both sides dig in heels,\u201d page one, Feb. 26]. What arrogance!<\/p>\n

However, they are so obviously false that these claims should be consigned to a bullpen at a nearby ranch. There are now more than 30 million U.S. citizens who have no easy access to health care. If asked, they likely would rate our system something similar to health care in the Third World.<\/p>\n

Even more, those who presently rely on health insurance supplied by their employers are one layoff away from joining those people already bereft of health coverage. This adds up to a lot of people who either have or could lose their access to health care in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The practice of medicine in the U.S. is very good if one can afford it, but the system overall is not good if one can\u2019t. Compared with other advanced countries, we fare poorly.<\/p>\n

Members of Congress who utter such nonsense have great, free and lifelong health coverage. If only we all could be so fortunate. Once we elevate them to Congress, they thereafter cease to be \u201cof the people.\u201d Those more obtuse congressmen, also cease to be \u201cfor the people\u201d as well.<\/p>\n

Beware those uttering such bold claims because they don\u2019t have a good grasp of our situation.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Richard Andler, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Those starving for health care need coverage, not \u2018cake\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read about some of the comments made by Republican senators at President Obama\u2019s health-care summit. I was particularly struck by a comment by Sen. John Barrasso from Wyoming.<\/p>\n

I guess they do things differently in Wyoming, but I was pretty shocked that his proposal for health-care reform would be to do away with health insurance except for catastrophic care. Sen. Barrasso felt that people would make better health-care choices if they were forced to pay for their general health care.<\/p>\n

Is he kidding? Does he have no sense of the struggles that are facing people in this country with regard to health care? Does he not understand that people are desperate concerning medicine and doctor bills? To say that people in this country would be better off paying for their health care is like Marie Antoinette saying that the poor people in France who had no bread should just eat cake.<\/p>\n

Sen. Barrasso and his Republican colleagues should be ashamed of themselves and owe the American people an apology.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sandy Kraus, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Pre-existing clauses require state, not federal, oversight<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul Krugman, thank you for today\u2019s column [\u201cMemo to Democrats: Just do it,\u201d Opinion, Feb. 27]. Health-care reform isn\u2019t so much about the quality of health care as it is about the money that pays for it.<\/p>\n

Concerns about pre-existing conditions may be real, but they are applicable only to individuals who have allowed their health insurance to lapse. Pre-existing condition clauses exist to encourage equitable contributions to the financing of health-care plans. Buying health insurance after you\u2019re sick is like buying auto insurance after an accident \u2014 too little, too late.<\/p>\n

Not every state needs a federal watchdog. Our state insurance commissioners already regulate the industry with mandates for minimum benefits, maximum annual rate increases and a reasonable three-month limit on pre-existing conditions with credit for partial coverage during the three-month look-back period.<\/p>\n

If our state government is doing its job, the federal government doesn\u2019t need to reform it. And if for some reason state insurance commissioners aren\u2019t doing their jobs, then maybe the federal government should address that problem instead of trying to tackle sweeping federal reform. I say this not as a Republican, but as someone who already sees a strong government presence in existing health-care legislation.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Teresa Mosteller, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Have waited to long to set aside health-care reform again<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last time Congress \u201cset aside\u201d health reform, my head was bald, my husband and I were childless and our backyard was a wasteland. 18 years later, the pre-existing condition exclusion still terrorizes millions of Americans, but 30-foot trees stretch skyward in our yard, unruly hair springs from my scalp and our teenage daughter plays high-school volleyball.<\/p>\n

I remember the bleak, barren days all too well: My HMO had canceled my insurance just as cancer threatened my life. I became the poster child for reform back in the early \u201990s, urging lawmakers to end such insurance company abuses. When reform failed, we planted a small garden to inspire a bit of hope.<\/p>\n

At long last, health-reform legislation that will rein in insurance company greed and help everyday people is on the brink of passage. The measure proposed by President Obama will end the pre-existing condition nightmare once and for all.<\/p>\n

Politicians muster this sort of courage only once in a generation. This is no time to hit the pause button.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Roberta Riley, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claims about best health care in world are a bunch of hogwash At the health-care summit on Thursday, several senators and representatives stated that, \u201cThe United States has the best health-care system in the world\u201d [\u201cDems may go it alone as both sides dig in heels,\u201d page one, Feb. 26]. What arrogance! However, they are […]<\/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-377124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377124","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=377124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}