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View Full Version : Outreach: We need some Healtcare letters to the editor




dr. hfn
08-09-2009, 11:54 PM
Anyone want to write a letter to the editor and post it here for use? 200-300 words probably. we can all use it!

angelatc
08-10-2009, 12:17 AM
this is a great idea, but I have to go to bed. :)

sparebulb
08-10-2009, 12:27 AM
It's very discouraging when you read a letter FROM the editor like this. This is from a small town in Missouri not far from where I live.

http://www.kirksvilledailyexpress.com/opinions/x1558731347/Time-to-refocus-the-health-care-debate

Time to refocus the health care debate

By Jason Hunsicker
Daily Express
Sat Aug 08, 2009, 09:25 AM CDT

Chances are, if you have a pulse, you have an opinion on the health care legislation currently being fought over by the United States Congress.

Unfortunately for those looking for rational, civilized debate, having a pulse is about the only requirement necessary to take those opinions and spew them forth to the masses. A brain capable of intelligent thought is a distant second.

Lawmakers and political pundits know this, and now our country finds itself embroiled in a fight over the most important piece of legislation in many years. But we’re fighting for the wrong reasons, thanks to them and the incredibly large portion of the population that takes their vitriol as gospel without bothering to ask if the claim our president wants to kill old people really makes sense.

Ready for a little secret? Politicians lie. You know who lies more? Those radio talk-show hosts, bloggers, and, my absolute favorite, authors of the ever-popular e-mail forwards.

Yet it’s information from these sources, these people, so many Americans use to form beliefs. It’s the slander, not the substance, that decides support.

The claim of mandatory “end of life” meetings every five years where discussions would be had on how to die is so heinously far from truth, but it’s what people believe. What would actually happen is these — read this — optional meetings would be available to persons age 65 and older, and the cost would be fully covered so long as an individual didn’t exceed one meeting each five years. It is in this setting where people would talk about things like a living will, and decide what course of action he or she would want taken in certain circumstances.

Not quite a mandatory euthanasia summit.

There is also a full-throated argument against a government run health insurance plan, with people saying their health choices should be determined by them and their doctors. That’s what happens now, they say.

Really? Who decides how often you go to the doctor? You. Who decides how many of those visits are paid for? Not you. Insurance companies do.

The idea of being in control of your health care is an illusion. You and your doctor make decisions, and in the end it’s up to you whether to go that route, but the insurance company decides what is covered, and what you’ll have to pay.

A government plan (Which would be optional, too. Private insurance will still be out there, and you can still have it.) making that same kind of call is too much for some to take, apparently, but isn’t that less frightening than a system that says who you are and how much money you have determines the level of care you can receive? If you have the money and work for an employer who can help hook you up with a quality program in the face of spiraling costs, you’re good to go. If you’re poor, or work for a business that can’t afford decent health insurance, you might be as good as gone.

Is that a system worth fighting to keep?

Oddly, that’s not part of the discussion we’re having in this country. Much like during the last election when people based votes on which candidate wasn’t a Muslim (neither were, though I still don’t get why that mattered), which wasn’t born in the United States (they both were), or which didn’t know how to use a computer (seriously?) we’ve been distracted from analyzing the real questions.

Instead of digesting and regurgitating everything you hear from your favorite pundit, take five minutes to do some research. There are plenty of independent places to do so, just a click away online.

Then, after you find out President Barack Obama isn’t a foreign-born terrorist who infiltrated our highest office and is now on a secret al-Qaida mission to destroy marriage, force millions to have abortions, and kill senior citizens, try to wrap your brain around the issues.

Personally, I still don’t know whether this health care reform is a good idea, but I refuse to fall into the political trap used by people on both sides of the aisle and allow myself to be made afraid of things, and then told who to blame.

The way to combat that fear is with truth, research, and thought, not blind ignorance. To find that truth, all you need is a little desire.

And a pulse.