Diagnosing ills of healthcare system

Re “Healthcare code blue,” Opinion, Nov. 3

John Abramson points out an unavoidable fact -- that the United States spends more on healthcare than any other nation -- and follows it up with a whopper: “No politician wants to be tarred with the charge of promoting ‘socialized medicine.’ ”

The good doctor has somehow missed state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), whose plan for a government-monopoly healthcare system was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. Consider also President Bush, whose Medicare drug benefit was the largest entitlement expansion since the Great Society.

This creeping government takeover of American healthcare has consequences. Fewer physicians enter primary care practice, as they have learned that they lose money treating patients in relentlessly expanding state Medicaid programs.

Meanwhile, north of the border, fewer Canadians now travel to the United States for care. The Canadian Supreme Court recently struck down government-monopoly healthcare. Private surgical clinics are opening in response.

JOHN R. GRAHAM

San Francisco

The writer is the director of healthcare studies at the Pacific Research Institute.

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Abramson correctly points out that Canada spends less on healthcare on a per capita basis than the United States. But what is the rationale for concluding that spending less on healthcare increases longevity?

The manner in which Canada spends less on healthcare is by rationing it. Canadians wait months for what is routine care in this country. My cousin in Britain has waited months to have her abdominal aortic aneurysm treated. The ultimate in cost savings would be for the aneurysm to rupture, terminating her life. We can make medical care in this country more cost-efficient and effective, but please don’t recommend reducing care as a solution.

DONALD C. MARTIN MD

Santa Ana

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Why do our elected officials receive healthcare coverage at the expense of taxpayers? Doesn’t this perk simply protect our representatives from confronting the reality of the crisis that they are contributing to with so much flawed legislation? How can our elected officials really feel the terror of rising healthcare costs if they are protected from it by a most generous and comprehensive healthcare coverage policy -- paid for by their constituents?

ELLEN SWITKES

Sherman Oaks