{"id":460126,"date":"2010-03-22T19:52:06","date_gmt":"2010-03-22T23:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2011412837_healthcarereformpasses.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2010-03-22T19:52:06","modified_gmt":"2010-03-22T23:52:06","slug":"health-care-reform-passes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/460126","title":{"rendered":"Health-care reform passes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Politicians didn\u2019t get it right<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Regarding the insurance albatross the politicians just hung around our neck [\u201cHistoric health-care overhaul passes,\u201d Seattle Times, page one, March 22]:<\/p>\n

An estimated 23,000 unnecessary deaths annually will result from 23 million still uninsured nine years out;<\/p>\n

Millions of middle-income people will be pressured to buy commercial policies that cost up to 9.5 percent of income but cover an average of only 70 percent of medical expenses;<\/p>\n

Insurance firms [which give no care to anyone] will get at least $447 billion in taxpayer money in subsidies;<\/p>\n

The bill will drain about $40 billion from Medicare payments to safety-net hospitals;<\/p>\n

People with employer-based coverage will be locked into their plan\u2019s limited network of providers;<\/p>\n

Health-care costs will continue to skyrocket, like they did in Massachusetts;<\/p>\n

There are loopholes in the pre-existing conditions regulations;<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s reproductive rights will be further eroded.<\/p>\n

We needed and still need a single-payer, equal-access-for-all plan. Physicians for A National Health Program and United for Single Payer locally will continue to work on this until we get it right.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Linda Jansen, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks, Washington Reps<\/strong><\/p>\n

I just want to say how grateful I am to our Washington representatives for voting \u201cyes\u201d on health-care reform. The bill is not perfect, but I believe that we had to start somewhere.<\/p>\n

I have a friend with diabetes who this bill will help immediately. I am proud of our president, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and all the representatives who voted for it. This is a historic occasion.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Anne Steiner, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

No freedom of choice<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the health-care bill is going through the last hurdles, one fact that remains is that it does not give us the American value: \u201cfreedom of choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of us except a few will have to purchase for-profit private insurance. The ones who are below a certain income are forced to accept Medicaid as their insurance.<\/p>\n

None of the plans available guarantee that everybody can see the doctor or health-care professional of their choice, because some doctors do not take Medicare or Medicaid patients and most private plans have a preferred-provider list.<\/p>\n

So the work ahead will be to make the benefits afforded people over 65 the minimum health benefit for all, so decent coverage no longer is a privilege only for the ones who can afford it, or those who work for the right company.<\/p>\n

Second, we need to give everybody a choice of their current plan\/coverage or buying into Medicare (a public option).<\/p>\n

Finally, we have to mandate all doctors and health-care professionals to take all plans and give these professionals the ability to negotiate reimbursement rates.<\/p>\n

Then we all will have freedom of choice and decent health coverage.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ruth Knagenhjelm, Normandy Park<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Put up or shut up<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now that each and every Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives has voted against health-care reform, it is time for them, and their supporters, to put up or shut up.<\/p>\n

If they truly feel the \u201cfree\u201d market and for-profit health insurers will serve them better, then they have a moral responsibility to immediately withdraw from the congressional health-insurance program or the \u201csocialist\u201d Medicare and Medicaid programs.<\/p>\n

I just hope they aren\u2019t too shocked by the 20-40 percent annual premium increases those of us lucky enough to be able to afford private health insurance (and with no pre-existing conditions) have been stuck with.<\/p>\n

\u2014 William M. Woods, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The seed is planted<\/strong><\/p>\n

I honor Democrats who worked so hard to pass health-care reform on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Yes, the bill is a pale shadow of what it ought to be. Health care should be a public service, like our fire and police departments. It should be a single-payer federal program for every citizen, based on the realization that health care is part of the right to life. In a civilized nation, no citizen should profit from another\u2019s illness.<\/p>\n

Yet despite the bill\u2019s deficiency, Democrats who voted for it deserve respect for their courage, especially Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who faced a tsunami of disdain. She and her party fought off a right-wing campaign of lies, threats, fear-mongering and hate speech such as we have not seen since the civil-rights struggle of the\u201960s.<\/p>\n

But compassion triumphed over hardness of heart. The seed is planted. May the vine flourish.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Fred LaMotte, Steilacoom<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Mandates and rights<\/strong><\/p>\n

Danny Westneat\u2019s column on health-care mandates [\u201cFree to have health care for all,\u201d NWSunday, March 21] is a thoughtful and balanced discussion of the issue.<\/p>\n

I agree that while many of us recoil instinctively at being compelled to purchase health insurance, it\u2019s necessary to make the system work.<\/p>\n

I was also disappointed to read U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert\u2019s wildly irresponsible rhetoric suggesting that people would be sent to jail for not buying health insurance.<\/p>\n

What Westneat does not mention is that for many years now we have been compelled to buy automobile insurance. I have not heard complaints from tea-party activists about this infringement of our freedom. The law may not mandate jail time directly for not carrying auto insurance, but the fine is steep, and if you don\u2019t pay your traffic fines, you can certainly go to jail.<\/p>\n

I pay for auto insurance annually but have made only one claim in 16 years, and there was a substantial deductible. However, I recognize that it\u2019s wisest to at least carry liability, which is what the law requires.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I need to see my doctor three or four times a year, and have several medications I have to take. Paying for health insurance will save me a lot more money than paying for auto insurance.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Marc Szeftel, Burien<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Yes, we want it<\/strong><\/p>\n

Republican leaders Sen. Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader John Boehner and Karl Rove are making me sick as I listen to them talk about health care. If I hear one more time that \u201cthe American people\u201d don\u2019t want this bill, I\u2019m going to throw up.<\/p>\n

What about the millions of Americans who do want this bill to pass, who do want uninsured Americans to be covered, who do want Americans not to lose their coverage or be bankrupted because they get sick?<\/p>\n

McConnell says it will be \u201cArmageddon\u201d if it passes and will \u201cdestroy the country.\u201d On ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week,\u201d [former Bush White House adviser] Rove said it will be an \u201ceconomic disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about the economic disaster of people losing their homes and savings due to illness or going to the emergency room when they\u2019re sick because they don\u2019t have insurance to pay for a doctor visit?<\/p>\n

\u201cArmageddon\u201d? \u201cEconomic disaster\u201d? Really? This absurd hyperbole that passes for debate is what will destroy this country, not the health-care bill.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dan Haeck, Federal Way<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Politicians didn\u2019t get it right Editor, The Times: Regarding the insurance albatross the politicians just hung around our neck [\u201cHistoric health-care overhaul passes,\u201d Seattle Times, page one, March 22]: An estimated 23,000 unnecessary deaths annually will result from 23 million still uninsured nine years out; Millions of middle-income people will be pressured to buy commercial […]<\/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-460126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460126","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=460126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}