Letters
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Roberts made right call on health care ruling
From: Bill Scarbrough
Columbus
Received: July 10
Whoa, the fulminating and bellowing about the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare by the likes of Limbaugh, Beck and Fox News sounds like they’re all having apoplexy.
And on Sunday, I discovered that George Albers, in his Letter to the Editor, writing about his displeasure for what he mischievously calls the Affordable Healthcare Act, seems to have lost his cool as well.
A histrionic sentence like Mr. Albers wrote, “Next up on this administration’s agenda — religious freedoms.” is a little overboard when talking about health care.
Don’t you think?
Anyway folks, what we’re talking about here is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Have you noticed how these Republican tea partiers never use the full title.
Must be because everyone understands that the patient protection part means insurance companies will no longer be able to deny you coverage because of pre-existing conditions, drop your insurance because your medical expenses exceeded an annual or lifetime limit they imposed, will be required to apply 80 percent of your premium to your care instead of paying executives unlimited millions, will be required to keep your children insured until they’re 26, and the doughnut hole in the drug program for seniors will be closed. Plus many other protective measures.
Do you think the insurance companies would have voluntarily given you such protections? Meh.
The law also requires savings in Medicare. This has Republicans spinning around faster than protons in the Hadron collider.
They hailed their own budget proposals that made deep, deep cuts in Medicare; but when Medicare cuts were made part of the PPACA they howl that this is unfair to seniors.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Mr. Albers and all Republicans seem united in saying the PPACA is an “economically onerous bill.”
Hold on, the CBO estimates in the first decade the law will reduce the deficit by $210 billion and in the second decade a reduction of $1.2 trillion to the deficit will be achieved! This gives a whole new meaning to “economically onerous.”
Love it when Mr. Albers calls a bill that will save over a trillion dollars a bill that ”essentially flushes the toilet that our economy has been drowning in.” Does this have anything to do with drowning the government in the bathtub? Republicans have signed a pledge to do that.
OK, enough of the silliness.
All Republicans are agonizing over Chief Justice John Roberts. The splenetic attacks began immediately because he betrayed them.
Let me tell you something. There have been 100 5/4 decisions in the court since 2005. Do you know in how many of those Roberts voted with the liberal members of the court? One. That’s right, one ... this one. Just shows you how the zealots will not tolerate any departure from the party line.
Mr. Albers did write one thing about the health care law that I fully agree with. He said, “This is not what our forefathers had envisioned for us as a free people.”
No they didn’t. Unfortunately they knew nothing about modern health care. As late as the assassination of President Garfield in 1881 his doctor was poking around in the bullet hole in his gut with an unsterilized finger. Lister’s work on sterilization in 1860 was not accepted in America. Garfield died months later because of infection.
No, our forefathers could not envision modern medicine nor the necessity for a government role in it for a free people.
Residents deserve best not cheapest ambulance
From: Paul Rothrock
Columbus
Received: July 7
I’m trying to wrap my mind around this ambulance issue. I served the city and county as a firefighter and paramedic/EMT for more than 28 years.
I have worked on Medic-1 when Columbus Fire Department provided the primary 911 service. So with that, my opinion could be somewhat biased.
I believe that if you could honestly speak just of the quality of care provided to our citizens at the scenes of accidents or treatments provided in the homes, the majority of the patients, family, bystanders, emergency workers and other associated medical staff would agree that Medic-1 personnel were very qualified, professional and caring.
With that said, sometimes it doesn’t just count who is the cheapest. Would you want the best deal on a heart transplant or a knee replacement?
All aside, and to my understanding, the city is offering three ambulances provided by Columbus Fire Department to/for the citizens of Columbus — or a total of four ambulances to all the residents of this county.
The county is considering or offering to continue with Columbus Regional Hospital with an increase in subsidy to $300,000 for the year of 2013.
What a lot of citizens might not understand is that this increase is not just to the county residents but also the city residents.
Let’s look at another level: The city is considering deploying three ambulances around the city. That is great for us in the city.
Average run times (time of dispatch to time available for another call) for ambulances responding to emergency calls within the city would be a great deal shorter.
What that means to us (citizens) — the odds of always having an ambulance available to respond in an emergency is great.
This, with the county leadership providing one ambulance for 40 percent to 45 percent of the county’s population.
Just by geographies alone will mean longer response times and more chance of an emergency ambulance not being available for those county residents in need.
I’m not certain what the motivation of some of our elected officials are, but you can be certain politics are involved somewhere.
Personally, I don’t mind if you want the cheapest ambulance service for your family and friends.
But when it comes to the life, health and well-being of my family and friends, I’m not interested in the cheapest.
I agree with Mayor (Kristen) Brown. I believe she is trying to give the citizens the best, cost-effective service.
She is being responsible to taxpayers. I feel that I can hold her to that at election time.
Unlike the other ambulance services, we are not sure who is running them.
And maintaining political favor. I believe we all need to ask a little more and understand a little more.
As for the fire department, it does have a passion for community service.
“I’m just saying.”
Care Act affects those without insurance
From: Adele Vincent
Columbus
Received: July 6
It is important in this election season that the continuing debate about the Affordable Care Act be conducted on the basis of fact.
It is a very long and complex law and thus it is easy to misunderstand its provisions and, disturbingly, to distort them for political purposes.
That is why I felt compelled to correct the misstatements in Kate Craig’s letter of July 5.
To begin with, how she can say we are facing “the largest tax in our country’s history” is a puzzle.
What is her source for that exaggeration.
Her comment that “Now every adult will be paying this tax on top of all the other taxes we pay” is flat wrong.
It will be levied only on those who do not have health insurance. Moreover, there will be many without insurance who will not be taxed: those who do not earn enough to file a tax return, for instance, or those who could not find an insurance policy that would cost less than 8 percent of their household income.
So if you already have medical insurance, whether through a private insurer, or through Medicare, Medicaid or the military (including those with veterans benefits) you will not be affected by this tax.
In fact we will all benefit when everyone is insured.
Hospitals are required to treat all patients who show up, whether they are insured or not, and the cost of that care is passed on to the rest of us
There will be more of this incorrect information about what is or is not in the Affordable Care Act in the next few months. It is up to all of us to verify the source of any information we hear before jumping to conclusions.
Postings on the Internet and obvious political propaganda are not always accurate.
National Public Radio is currently providing experts’ correct answers to questions called in by listeners (including the above information about the waivers), and other responsible broadcast and print media will surely do the same.
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