‘Going without’ is a good test

Re “Try living uninsured,” Opinion, Feb. 4

Tina Dupuy has the right idea about health insurance, but she should go one step further. Not only deny state lawmakers health insurance for two months, extend it to the federal lawmakers and make it for six months.

While denying health insurance, we should also examine the fat pensions these lawmakers gave themselves at the expense of the taxpayers. Stop pensions and make all these lawmakers follow the same rules as the common taxpayer -- pay into Social Security and Medicare.

I am tired of elected officials mouthing off about giving the public the same medical care they have. We all know that will never happen.

June Lurie

Encino

How much money would America save if taxpayers no longer offered health benefits for their state and federal senators and representatives. Does anyone know?

U.S. citizens are the employer in this case, and we do still offer health insurance even though I suspect we cannot afford it. Maybe the time has come for citizens to take a page from the handbook of American business and admit that we cannot afford to offer health insurance for our public representatives.

Eva Stjernfeldt

Encinitas, Calif.

Our household income is decidedly lower middle class, and yet we pay nearly $1,000 a month for health insurance for a family of three. The Federal Reserve says it sees little or no inflation, but that just means no wage inflation. Everything of fundamental importance is drastically rising in price: food, housing, education, transportation and healthcare.

Maybe our representatives would start talking seriously about single-payer healthcare if their government-supplied, single-payer “socialized medicine” were taken away from them. I don’t mean for 2 1/2 months a year, but completely and permanently.

Paul Moser

Studio City

I have long felt that if members of Congress had to live like we commoners relative to healthcare, there would be an immediate change in drug pricing, etc.

Kathy Kuczynski

El Toro