George Michael’s reflection on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Maybe Obamacare will collapse,” Dec. 28 Times-News) ignores so much.
But let’s start with a question. Can anyone pursue life, liberty and happiness without health?
Does it not bother him that 40,000 Americans needlessly die each year because they lack health insurance? Does it not bother him that over 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies are related to health costs?
Check out how one average family was saved from bankruptcy by Obamacare in Jenine Urbaniak’s article at Open Salon Blog. Observe the rampant greed of Urbaniak’s insurance company, obviously more interested in profit than the health of its customers.
One excellent provision in Obamacare is that insurance companies are required to give plain language descriptions of costs and benefits. No more unreadable tiny print exceptions hidden in documents.
Mr. Michael writes about various medical device companies saying they will have to lay off workers if an excise tax is levied on medical devices.
He fails to mention that a number of these companies have been ripping off Medicare on such items as back braces — charging on average $919 for a brace that should retail for $191.
Medicare officials say they want competitive bidding, something the industry is fighting. Greed trumps all.
Medical supplies are the second largest expenditure in our nation’s hospitals and clinics and a big contributor to the exploding cost of health care. Yet a few big medical supply companies rip the system off even as they make health care more dangerous.
See the eye-opening article by Mariah Blake in Washington Monthly. The enormity of the greed of the few that puts the majority at risk — including health care providers — is tragic.
Mr. Michael then talks about the increased cost to every American when the program is implemented, even when many experts say it will save billions.
He fails to mention that initially, the goal was to have a single-payer program to protect everyone, based on the Medicare example.
Had we done that — something European countries did years ago — we would have eliminated the massive administrative costs of insurance companies (many of those costs dedicated to denying coverage, by the way).
Control of fraud would also be much easier. Of course the insurance industry made sure their lucrative skimming of health care costs would continue through their congressional friends.
Mr. Michael doesn’t mention that whereas we spend far more on health care than any other country, we rank poorly overall in health care delivery.
The World Health Organization ranks us 37th in the world. We are also one of only three industrialized countries with a sizeable portion of the population uninsured.
I’m sure Mr. Michael has a very good health insurance policy for himself and his family.
For the roughly 50 million people in this country who aren’t as lucky as he is — and most are hard working — what option is left? Mostly, they put off visits to the doctor, then go to the emergency room, which is far more expensive for all us.
Mr. Michael hopes Obamacare will collapse — saying the “devious tactics of the president and Democratic leaders” led to its passage.
President Obama cared about health care for all, not just the privileged few. Had he not been thwarted by the greed of those reaping enormous profits at the expense of the many, we might have had a solid single-payer plan.
With luck, Obamacare will collapse into such a plan where all have access to good health care. I can only hope.
Craig Etchison
Fort Ashby, W.Va.
Letters
It might collapse into a plan that actually works
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Walk Smart
Many local residents will be visiting Ocean City this summer, so it is worth noting that the resort has launched a campaign that it hopes will keep pedestrians out of harm’s way.
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Trailer case bound to increase scrutiny on town of Piedmont
This letter is in response to the recent story concerning the guilty plea entered in federal court by Piedmont’s town foreman (“Piedmont town foreman Shingler enters guilty plea,” May 21 Times-News, Page 1A).
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Fixing community’s problems starts with your young people
I am writing this letter to the editor because I think our community really needs to work on plenty of issues. Some of them are:
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Why are there no answers to these questions?
We currently have the most corrupt administration in the history of the country. Every day more and more lies come from the Obama administration.
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Roaming dogs prove menace to some residents of LaVale
I am writing to inform your readers and the animal control staff of Allegany about a problem that is dragging on and unresolved, yet.
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These types should look to the Boy Scouts for an example
Consider these headlines:
NRA will “Never Surrender.”
The Tea Party will “Never Surrender.”
The No Tax Group will “Never surrender.”
Neocons will “Never Surrender.”
Far Left Liberals will “Never Surrender.” -
Housing project will have bad effect on property in this area
I am writing to you to voice my opposition to a low income housing project that has been proposed for construction on a tract of land on Pine Swamp Road in Mineral County, W.Va. I am a registered voter and resident of Mineral County and live in the New Creek/Pine Swamp area.
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Why have the media been silent all this time?
When I read the Cumberland Times-News Editorial this morning, Friday, May 17, entitled, “Outrageous,” I laughed like a kid at a birthday party!
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What are chances this much money will be spent on road?
I was intrigued by cost data summarized in reporter Kathy Mellott’s recent article, “Completing southern link of U.S. Route 219 said to be best use of highway funds,” which appeared in the Cumberland Times-News on Tuesday May 14 (Page 1A).
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School board should be doing better job with less money
The Allegany County Teachers Association (ACTA) board of directors recently submitted a letter to the editor asking the Allegany County commissioners to fully fund the Board of Education’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year (“Commissioners should fund school board request,” April 29 Times-News).
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