LETTERS

Re “A healthcare cure or political panacea?” Opinion, June 21

Doyle McManus notes that the GOP plans to scare the public into believing that Obama’s healthcare plan will lead to “rationing.” What is being cleverly overlooked by the GOP is the fact that the insurance companies have been rationing healthcare already. Just ask those who have diligently paid premiums on their policies, only to be denied coverage when they needed it most.

It’s time for a change. If we can’t get single-payer insurance, we should at least have a public option to bring fairness and honesty into America’s healthcare system.

It’s less costly in the long run.

Gerda Fadden

Thousand Oaks

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McManus reports that the cost of healthcare reform proposals has shocked members of Congress. We are now paying more for our healthcare than many countries that cover everybody, regardless of prior illnesses. The difference, of course, is that our money goes to insurance companies and HMOs, while other countries’ money goes to hospitals and physicians.

The industry hates even the idea of a government alternative. Insurance companies could never compete, with their bloated bureaucracy and overpaid administrators. Their only hope is to make the government alternative just as bad as their own product so they can say “I told you so.”

Emil Lawton

Sherman Oaks