Letters to the editor
Our social contract
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, February 19, 2006
Story appeared in Forum section, Page E6
Re “The new shades of gray,” Forum, Feb. 12: For a multitude of unavoidable reasons, our population is aging, becoming more treatable and costing much more to treat.
The private health-care industry is preparing for this by expanding and adding facilities and services, not out of any real concern for our health but mainly to stay financially ahead of the game. While this is good for well-funded patients, none of it will help the growing numbers (in all age groups) who are unable to finance their access to essential care.
There remains only one “big idea” worth considering: a system of government-sponsored access to essential universal health care. Further, access to essential care must remain untarnished by private industry. For this we need to bite the bullet and pay a tax, but it will be less in taxes than we pay in premiums.
Government is the only institution with a valid social contract to protect our health and welfare.
– Lawrence A. Danto, M.D. , Truckee
A single-payer solution
Re “Health care needs big ideas but gets small ones,” editorial, Feb. 12: Health care already has the big idea – the California Health Insurance Reliability Act. SB 840 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl would establish a single-payer health insurance system for all Californians.
The health care system is in critical condition. Costs are escalating higher than the rate of inflation. Prescription drug costs have grown exponentially, as advertising consumes 31 percent of costs and profits exceed 20 percent. Employers are reducing coverage and demanding that employees pay higher costs. More people, including children, are uninsured or underinsured. Public funding has been cut. Competition among health plans has failed to demonstrate effectiveness in assuring access or contain costs.
The evidence is overwhelming that “profit and greed” are driving the system.
SB 840, which has already passed the Senate, enunciates a fundamental moral principle, that health care is a basic human right. It provides for universal access, comprehensive benefits, a wellness model, and significant cost savings.
The Lewin Group has done extensive economic analysis of SB 840, and documents that everyone in California would have coverage with less money spent.
– Emanuel Gale, Sacramento
Big ideas in health care
Apparently the editorial board has not heard of SB 840, the universal health care bill by state Sens. Shiela Kuehl and Deborah Ortiz, with several coauthors in the Senate and Assembly.
This bill would provide fiscally sound, affordable health insurance to all Californians, provide every Californian the right to choose his or her own physician and control health cost inflation.
The system would be paid for by federal, state and county monies already being spent on health care and by affordable insurance premiums that would replace those now paid by employers and consumers.
This plan would eliminate waste by consolidating the functions of many insurance companies into one comprehensive insurance plan, saving California about $20 billion and reducing total health spending by $8 billion in the first year alone.
For more information about this bill, visit www.healthcareforall.org.
– Lindy Tillement, Rio Linda