Debating Who Pays for Mandatory Healthcare

Re “Mandatory Health Insurance Is Urged,” Dec. 15: The very idea of mandating health insurance under our current system is ludicrous.

I am a 45-year-old single man in good health. Having left my union and exhausting my COBRA benefits, I recently applied for a relatively inexpensive plan that would only cover, due to the high deductibles, catastrophic situations. I was turned down because of a preexisting condition that I have not been treated for in over two years. This company would cover me under a state-mandated plan -- for $412 per month. Indeed, the best price I could find through the state plan was $348 per month. This is not affordable healthcare. If I get an ear infection, I’ll go to a clinic. But y’all better hope I don’t get hit by a car, because you, the taxpayer, will be paying for my treatment at a county hospital. By the way, due to his current residence, Scott Peterson has greater access to healthcare than I do, which you (and I) pay for.

Christopher W. Trott

North Hollywood

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Any proposal for mandatory health insurance in California that does not involve the creation of a single-payer system would serve only to increase taxpayer subsidies for private insurers. In light of California’s enormous budget deficit, the costs associated with moving the uninsured into the individual insurance market would be unsustainable.

The California Healthcare Options Project found that all Californians could be covered under a single-payer program for less than we spend now. However, it will take tremendous political leadership to counter the opposition of the insurance industry to a plan that would put it out of business.

If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is sincere in his desire to cover the uninsured, he will fight to make California the first state to provide universal coverage.

Gerald Gollin MD

Redlands

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Finally! A proposal to solve the healthcare problem. Just pass a law requiring everyone in California to have health insurance. Our governor has explained that this worked for auto insurance. Now everyone who has no auto insurance knows that, if he drives, he will be violating the law. So in the future anyone without medical insurance will know that getting sick would violate the law.

Next up: Solve the homeless problem by legislating a requirement that everyone have a home.

William Bunyan

Venice