Mantle’s Transplant

* Re Mickey Mantle and our health care crisis (June 9):

Mickey Mantle drinks himself into end-stage liver failure, and gets liver cancer as a result of his persistent self-abuse. He then bellies up to the bar of America’s massively debt-ridden health care system to say, “I’ll have another.”

The only things more offensive than Mantle’s pitiful behavior is the response of the self-serving physicians, insurers and organ-donation apparatchiks that complied.

Health care is very expensive, and the health-dollar pie has limited number of pieces. With over 65% of all illness directly related to life-style choices, we will never gain control of the spiraling inflation in medical expenditures in this country until we start making health insurance coverage dependent upon behavioral decisions.

“Our hero” Mantle will not pay for his “sins.” You and I and everyone who continue paying higher and higher insurance premiums will pay for his and others’ life choices, until we finally demand the kind of changes in our insurance system that rewards healthy lifestyles and financially penalizes self-abuse.

DANIEL LEVY MD

Santa Barbara