{"id":435503,"date":"2010-03-16T17:43:43","date_gmt":"2010-03-16T21:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2011361057_healthcarerounduphousevotelikelythisweek.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2010-03-16T17:43:43","modified_gmt":"2010-03-16T21:43:43","slug":"health-care-roundup-house-vote-likely-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/435503","title":{"rendered":"Health-care roundup: House vote likely this week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now is not the time to start over<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

\u201cStart over?\u201d The Times\u2019 prescription for solving our health-care woes is to \u201cstart over\u201d? [\u201cCongress must reject health-reform bill,\u201d Opinion, March 16]. A week away from possible completion and the editorial board wants to begin again?<\/p>\n

The Obama administration and a majority of the Senate and the House have worked for more than a year to bring ideas to the table and the opposition has thrown one obstacle after another in the way \u2014 not to improve the proposal so much as to block it. Not to find solutions so much as to prevent a successful plan from being approved. And at the end of this process, The Times\u2019 opinion is: \u201cNot good enough, should have been doing something else \u2014 let\u2019s start over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps a year ago, suggesting a stronger focus on jobs and the economy would have made sense \u2014 though this administration has already put enormous focus on those issues. But now, so close to passage, suggesting that they toss out all this time and effort because you wish they had worked on something else is merely avoiding the issue.<\/p>\n

The editorial makes no mention and takes no issue with the opponents who are refusing to contribute to any efforts to improve our overly expensive, underperforming health system. Instead, you join them in refusing to participate in the debate. Perhaps it is the editorial board that should \u201cstart over.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jeff Clarke, Everett<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Implications for not passing health care<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Times\u2019 true colors shine loud and clear in Tuesday\u2019s anti-health-care editorial. If you scrap the bill like you propose, it would be so damaging to the economy and our nation.<\/p>\n

Countless older people would retire before 65 if they could buy insurance, thus freeing up jobs. More small businesses would start if they could get insurance from an exchange. Insurance premiums wouldn\u2019t double in the next 10 years \u2014 as they have in the last 10.<\/p>\n

Countless people wouldn\u2019t lose their homes or go bankrupt because of illness \u2014 how could they then stimulate the economy? Medicare wouldn\u2019t be in the red in seven to eight years. And most of all, 45,000 people a year would not die for lack of health care and our middle class would not disappear..<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jim and Wanda Granquist, Auburn<\/em><\/p>\n

Comparison to Mexican drug war, Prohibition<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was shocked to read the editorial asking Congress to reject the health-care bill. The Times and other opponents of the health-care bill ignore the current cost of existing health care and the thousands of people without affordable health care.<\/p>\n

Even with its many flaws, it would be a big improvement over what we have. Also, the long-term cost would be less than it is now \u2014 not only in terms of money but also in terms of the suffering of people without health care.<\/p>\n

The vicious drug war in Mexico would eventually go away if the U.S. would legalize all drugs and sell them in secure dispensaries. The profits from the sales could be used to pay for drug-treatment centers. The users would be known and could be encouraged to go get free treatment.<\/p>\n

Those of us old enough to live during Prohibition remember the violence, rum runners and bootleg whiskey. Where I lived \u2014 in a community of about 100 \u2014 two young drinkers died of liver damage caused by bootleg whiskey.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Glen Carey, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Those who have health care unwilling to extend benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obviously, The Times\u2019 editors who keep harping that the \u201ctime is not right\u201d to pass the health-care bill are not in the position of having no health insurance, of not being able to afford medical care for sick children or of having health benefits denied due to pre-existing conditions.<\/p>\n

Because Congress and the president are in fact moving ahead with programs to provide jobs and to regulate financial excesses, The Times\u2019 claim that other things should take priority seems purely artificial. The Congressional Budget Office has clearly demonstrated that the bill pays for itself over time and it is ridiculous that the richest country in the world lags so far behind other developed countries in health indicators such as infant mortality, well-being and life expectancy.<\/p>\n

Every day that we put off improving our health-care system extends human suffering and creates a greater burden for those who must eventually deal with it.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Lee Holmer, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Shift of responsibility symptomatic of health-care problem<\/strong><\/p>\n

The article that questioned the benefits of some of the medical tests that U.S. physicians prescribe to their patients took dead aim at the key factor underlying rising health-care costs: a widespread belief that the state of one\u2019s health is primarily based on doctor visits rather than on lifestyle choices [\u201cExperts say U.S. doctors overtesting, overtreating,\u201d News, March 13].<\/p>\n

This shifting of health-care responsibility to medical professionals has fueled an incessant demand for third-party payments to cover nearly all medical services. Small wonder that many physicians tend to prescribe expensive medical tests of dubious value when an outside payer \u2014 i.e. a government department or insurance company \u2014 will pick up most, if not all, of the tab.<\/p>\n

This heavy reliance on frequent medical examinations, along with corrective or reparative treatments, is a clumsy and inefficient health-maintenance strategy that is unaffordable to all but the wealthiest.<\/p>\n

For everyone else, the only sustainable program is one that emphasizes a lifestyle directed toward preventing health problems \u2014 and all their attendant costly treatments \u2014 through avoidance of harmful substances and participation in regular exercise.<\/p>\n

We must all acknowledge that medical examinations and treatments are not economically viable substitutes for disciplined behavior.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark G. Warner, Bellevue<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now is not the time to start over Editor, The Times: \u201cStart over?\u201d The Times\u2019 prescription for solving our health-care woes is to \u201cstart over\u201d? [\u201cCongress must reject health-reform bill,\u201d Opinion, March 16]. A week away from possible completion and the editorial board wants to begin again? The Obama administration and a majority of the […]<\/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-435503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435503","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=435503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}