To the Editor:
The Census Bureau data showing 43.6 million uninsured for 2002 (front page, Sept. 30) illustrate an ugly side of the United States that most Americans and politicians would rather ignore.
At people’s time of most need, when physical or mental illness is eroding all other aspects of their life, our society does not guarantee help.
People must choose between caring for themselves or their children and paying for schooling, housing and food. As the Institute of Medicine documented last year, this is estimated to lead to 18,000 premature deaths every year.
It is no wonder that other countries question our ability to build a civil society in Iraq; we have not even built one in the United States.
JEREMIAH SCHUUR, M.D.
Providence, R.I., Sept. 30, 2003
To the Editor:
The big increase in the uninsured (front page, Sept. 30) is only part of the problem with our health care system. The nominally insured whose policies exclude pre-existing conditions also face substantial medical and financial risk.
These problems are inherent in a perverse health care system in which a profit-driven health insurance industry sustains itself by denying the very services the system is intended to provide.
RICHARD PLEVIN
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Sept. 30, 2003
To the Editor:
Your Sept. 30 front-page article about the increase in number of people without health insurance comes one day after I received notice that my own policy, which I pay for entirely, will increase by 17.5 percent this month.
It is no wonder that the middle class, which I consider myself a part of, is being forced out of the health care market. What other item in the marketplace increases in price at this rate in today’s down economy?
MARK SIEGEL
New York, Sept. 30, 2003
To the Editor:
“Big Increase Seen in People Lacking Health Insurance” (front page, Sept. 30) is only the tip of the iceberg. An accompanying news analysis mentions increases in
co-payments and deductibles.
Many people have inadequate or insufficient insurance. A tax credit will not help the millions who pay sales and payroll taxes but no income tax.
Health care and prescription drug costs continue to rise sharply. Our politicians – our leaders – refuse to recognize that other developed countries have universal
health care and much lower prescription drug prices.
If Americans are not bright enough or motivated enough to develop a more efficient and more economical health care system, why not just copy and improve an existing system that works better?
MORT GOODMAN
Longboat Key, Fla., Sept. 30, 2003