Letters
Support public option
The Sun Journal editorial on Oct. 5 states that Maine has its own "public option" health insurance program. If there's a Maine health insurance agency administered by the state with much cheaper rates than for-profit insurance companies, offering several insurance plans from which I can chose, well, that's news to me.
The editorial also mentions Massachusetts' health care plan. What it doesn't say is that premiums increased 10 percent in 2009.
Health care/insurance reform will happen this year. At least, it will be called that. It will require coverage of pre-existing conditions, maintaining coverage if someone gets sick, have no cap on lifetime coverage, and more. I've often read that with millions of new enrollees, insurance companies will offer this coverage without raising rates. If anyone believe that, I have a bridge I'd like to sell.
Without new regulations strictly forbidding price increases over the rate of inflation, insurance companies will just continue raising prices. Such a regulation would force them to cut costs like every other company in America is doing.
Don't like government dictating what companies charge? Then the only way to keep them from raising premiums is a true public option — competition. The "exchanges" idea has been tried and has done nothing to curb health care and insurance costs. The only thing that will work is a public option.
Our representatives in Congress must fight for a public option.
Claire Dupuis, Poland
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Displaying comments, from newest to oldest
Great letter and great
Great letter and great position. All Americans need to be protected from health crises and greedy health insurance companies.
nmcssc, if you're as old as you say you are and feel as you do, I hope you are not availing yourself of either Social Security or Medicare - two very socialistic programs that have the government working to protect you!
I can't understand why anyone is against something that is an OPTION. If you don't want to be the beneficiary of a form of insurance (e.g., Medicare for everyone), you would have the OPTION of buying your own insurance just as the elderly have the OPTION of buying additional insurance above and beyond Medicare... it's really that simple. And if you don't think our taxes should pay for helping others, then let's abolish the Social Security system as well.
Great letter and so true.
Great letter and so true. America needs a public option.
verified And precisely how much
And precisely how much experience do you have with the medical system in the UK, rstonge? From the accounts and anecdotal evidence, most people there are satisfied with their health care. Anything to yank the profits from the money hungry insurance companies would be great. Too many people have died or seriously hurt because they refuse treatment that people paid for and we denied. Something must done and done now. Don't like it, move to Iraq.
verified I read the British papers
I read the British papers from time to time. I have seen enough articles where the elderly are being refused care. Just the other day, I read a story about a soldier who served in Iraq. He was given a lung transplant because he developed an illness while serving. The lungs he was given came from a heavy smoker. Now he has lung cancer. Since he has cancer, he now is not eligible for another transplant.
I don't disagree that our health care system needs help, but socializing it is not the answer.
verified Rex, you think it is bad
Rex, you think it is bad now, wait until we get a system like the U.K. Of course unless you think the health care system in the U.K. is better than the one we have here.
verified Public option goes right
Public option goes right along with the goverments move toward socialism. Guess I'm getting too old as I remember when this country was a country of people working for what they needed. That no longer seems the case. Give me, Give me. That seems to be the new motto of the US these days.
verified How would it be fair
How would it be fair "competition" when the govt. can simply increase taxes when it wants in order to make the "public option" look cheaper? Or for that matter, raise taxes on private insurance; falsely inflating the price?
It is the undauntable thought, my friend. The one that says, "I'm right!" ~Bobby Sands
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