Several weeks ago the News & Messenger published my opinion letter about health care reform, which generated a lot of interesting discourse. One of the comments I heard from several of those
opposed to reform is that they do not want to be forced into an insurance change.
I can reassure everyone that the bill contains no provision to force any change on anyone, and that their concerns are based solely on misinformation circulated by opponents of reform. The public option
is just that, a voluntary option available to those who need it while others may safely ignore it.
However, those who resist any change in their insurance will soon find that it is unavoidable. As they age their coverage will inevitably be reduced while out of pocket costs skyrocket. And if they lose their
jobs they can say good bye to any coverage. Even worse, if they lose their jobs due to unexpected illness, they would have no job and require health care with no insurance to cover the expense.
Also of interest are the absurd TV commercials that oppose reform. I especially like the one where the Canadian woman explains that she would have died from her brain tumor if she had not come to the
USA for treatment.
What they fail to mention is just who actually paid for her treatment. The incredibly high cost of such care would land any family in the poorhouse. Most likely it was paid for by her “evil” Canadian health
insurance. Another commercial expresses a woman’s gratitude to her insurer for covering her life-saving breast cancer treatment.
That is nice for her, but what of the millions of uninsured women in our country who will also develop breast cancer? Are we to be satisfied to just let them die a horrible death? Sometimes I am forced to
wonder in despair at the utter selfishness of some people.
Dr. RAYMOND WEINSTEIN
Woodbridge
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