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Mail to the Chief
Local resident reaches out to Mr. Obama:
An open letter to President Obama,
I believe the time has come for the USA to join the rest of the civilized world concerning socialized medicine. Below are several good reasons why.
Health Care costs are out of control and have been for some time.
Is it fair when a millionaire like Mickey Mantle, can buy a heart or liver while a hard working factory worker with insurance is denied because of caps and policies? Is it fair for the middle aged couple who ran up their credit cards for their sons cancer treatment because their health insurance was capped at $200,000? (NBC Dateline Friday March 27, 2009 ).
How can a retired couple afford insurance premiums that cost up to half their pension? Eating Dog Food should not be an option! And finally, is it right for convicted criminals to have better dental care and health care
than the average American?
Another important issue is quite personal and has to do with the quality of the Health Care system as that seems to be the main argument against socializing medicine. In 2001 my Culinary Union retired mother had a sore shoulder and asked her HMO Doctor if she could consult a
specialist as his treatment wasn’t working and her pain was increasing.
He rudely replied “I think we’re getting off on the wrong foot.” He further intimidated her by stating “I’ll be the one who’ll tell you if you need a specialist.” 18 months later her HMO Doctor allowed her to see a
specialist and 3 months later she died of Lung Cancer. I ask you “is this quality care”?
Another very personal experience occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada in the Spring of 2006. While Ironworking there my wife informed me that I was scheduled for a bi-yearly Colonoscopy with my Doctor in Washington
State. Unfortunately I decided to call a referral center and have the procedure done in Las Vegas. They found me a supposedly reputable Colonoscopy Clinic with several locations in the Vegas Valley.
I chose one and 2 years later I received a letter from the Las Vegas Health Dept. advising me and FORTY THOUSAND others to get tested for blood bourne viruses and diseases because it seems that these “Quality Care” clinics were REUSING SYRINGES and doing other high risk unsafe practices. (see lasvegassun.com March 9,2008 titled “assembly-line colonoscopies” by Marshall Allen)
I should also mention these Doctor owned clinics were self insured but also UNDER-INSURED. They couldn’t even pay for the blood tests!! Just Google “ Epidemics” and you will find many many more examples of greed trumping over quality. I ask again is this quality health care? More like criminal care. Has greed taken over common sense?
So many conservatives have labeled you, President Obama, a socialist why not appease them a little bit and try to reform a greed infected health care system allowing equal treatment for all! I realize our Congress will resist due to health and drug corporations/ lobbyists (
bribes). But if anyone can CHANGE the many shortfalls in our health care system it is you Mr. President.
I sincerely believe if a poll was taken today a vast majority of registered voters would favor joining the rest of the Civilized World thus improving our so called “Quality Health Care”.
Sincerely, and thank you,
Steve Bova, Ocean Shores
The writer’s email address is bova.cindy@yahoo.com.
Steve Bova, You have my deep sympathy and total support. I do hope you send your letter to the President. US HR 676 is a universal healthcare proposal — Improved and Expanded Medicare –to cover every person. It is to be publicly funded but privately delivered – and is too little read about because of – YES – the greed and power of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies, who are really killing our people. What to do is to contact YOUR US reps and senators (Bernie Sanders, VT, just authored a parallel senate bill SB 703) asking them to co-sponsor HR 676 and SB 703. You are right, we are 37th among develped nations in healthcare, spending far more money and getting far less CARE. Take action. Let Washington, D.C. know we mean business!! And don’t take any half-measures which include the for-profit companies.
How right you both are! Health care has gone from what the name implies CARE to big business. Drs are afraid to try new and inovative techniques because of the fear of huge malpractice suits. It is not your local pharmacist that inflates prescription prices, but the Drug companies themselves under the name of research. I know this for a fact as my uncle was the chemical president of a large and diversified Drug Company.I lived in Canada for 8 years under so called socialized medicine. so let me tell you what that entailed. Any canadian citizen over 65 paid $5 for any prescription. Those under that age paid the much lower cost for their medications that exists in Canada.I saw the same doctor for everything but specialized illnesses i.e.surgery etc. Since there is a cap on physicians salarys and a universal health plan based on income a doctors visit was a minimal payment. My B.C medical plan cost me $7 a month. It has been rumored that it takes months and sometimes years to schedule a surgical procedure, not true! Purely cosmetic surgery make take quite a bit of time, but necessary surgery is immediate. Case in point, my father had hemmoraging ulcers and was operated on the same day. I could go on and on, but now you know Mr.Bova why I agree with you so strongly.
I personally would like to see a probe into why many medical things cost SO much. What is driving the cost of supplies and basic meds not to mention the prescribed medications. Are there studies done to see why a hospital procedure and stay can be so extremely expensive? Surely some of these things are inflated, similarily to the investigation a few years ago where government contracts were paying $40 for a screw or a bolt for use in an airplane.