A family’s anguish over a missing girl; health insurers and policies for children; the furloughing of state workers

Little girl lost

Re “The mystery of Laura,” Sept. 19 and Sept. 20

Kurt Streeter’s story on the Bradbury family was both heartbreaking and compelling.

I grew up in Huntington Beach and was a young girl when Laura Bradbury disappeared. I remember all too clearly the bumper stickers and billboards calling for people to help find Laura. It was such a sad and painful time, and one of the first times I remember being frightened that something bad could actually happen to me.

The article showed clearly the pain that lasts and lasts when a child is harmed.

I’m happy to see that quality, in-depth reporting on real human issues still has a place in print journalism; I hope it always does.

Aimee Cebulski

San Diego

Many thanks to the writer, and to the father of Laura, for sharing the pain, anger, fear and guilt that family members of missing persons feel.

Whether it is a little girl like Laura disappearing from a campsite or my son, Adam Kellner, who suffers from schizophrenia, vanishing from my home almost three years ago at the age of 34, there is a common bond that families share.

As the story pointed out, having a missing loved one puts a strain on a marriage and can affect siblings for years to come.

I hope that after all these years, the Bradburys can find peace and finally come to terms with the death of a daughter and sister.

For those of us still searching for our loved ones, the agony and fear of never knowing continues.

Sherrill W. Britton

Stevenson Ranch

Insurance and our health

Re “Insurers to stop issuing policies for kids,” Sept. 22, “Insurers vs. children,” Editorial, Sept. 23, and “Talking up the healthcare law,” Sept. 23

To stop selling policies for kids is the latest irresponsible act from an industry that hates regulations and places profits above people. Yet some people complain that the government should not get involved at all. For those people, my only answer is: Wait until you get sick.

Gustavo Brum

North Hollywood

This is what happens when basic human needs are turned over to profit-making enterprises.

Don’t blame the insurers. If they weren’t looking for ways to make money, they’d be abandoning their primary mission of benefiting their stockholders.

Bonnie Sloane

Los Angeles

What a tragedy that insurers announced a decision to halt new child-only health insurance policies for children, a vulnerable group, rather than comply with the new federal healthcare law.

Many studies show that access to healthcare insurance does make a difference for vulnerable populations, and children are certainly in that group.

Maria Heckman

La Crescenta

Cutting off new medical policies for children seriously undermines the Obamacare regulation requiring all Americans to buy health insurance.

Coming on top of double-digit rate increases, this reversal demonstrates that insurers are only going to manipulate that regulation to their own advantage. That many states are seeking to repeal that regulation underscores its being opposed by a large majority of voters.

If Republicans make dramatic congressional gains in November, they will seek to repeal the entire healthcare act and substitute their own business-oriented policies.

Democrats could show they respect voters’ wishes by rescinding the requirement that everyone must purchase health insurance. Public approval of such a statesmanlike act might make the difference in November.

Howard Hurlbut

Redlands

The decision by insurers to stop selling health insurance to children because they now have to cover the sick ones shows the cold brutality of our current system. Why people are trying to save this system is beyond me.

Marlin Sobbota

Arcadia

The recent obscene increases in health insurance premiums and insurance companies’ decision to not insure children are the prices we all are paying for Washington’s healthcare legislation, which lacks a single-payer provision.

President Obama blew it. He should have refused to accept anything less than single-payer, but he did not.

Roger Newell

San Diego

In the healthcare debate, no one wants to lose benefits they’ve become accustomed to, despite the fact that others are being unfairly shut out.

Those with excellent group plans, paid for by their employer, fail to understand the self-

employed who are unable to buy individual plans due to preexisting conditions, or those bankrupted by medical costs.

Likewise, insurance companies want to continue making maximum profits because ultimately they are not humanitarian organizations but for-profit businesses.

Why do we accept that education, police and firefighting should be covered by public funds but consider it outrageous that healthcare should be?

I applaud current attempts to reform the system, but it seems impossible to do so without both major political parties working toward it. We need to start over, with the goal of affordable, excellent healthcare for all.

Tara Cooper

Long Beach

Furloughs aren’t the only issue

Re “One furlough too far,” Opinion, Sept. 21

Not surprisingly, this Op-Ed article conveniently failed to mention the billions that already could have been saved had the Legislature agreed to the pension and compensation proposals issued in January by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Every day those reforms are delayed sends millions of dollars to public employees and away from higher education, public safety, job training and other programs of benefit to the private sector workers who provide all of the revenue to the state.

At some point, the Legislature must choose to represent the millions of private sector workers in California.

David Crane

Sacramento

The writer is special advisor to the governor for jobs and economic growth.

Furloughing federally funded employees only punishes the disabled people they serve.

I have a disabled adult daughter who is dependent on SSI for her income and medical treatment. There are thousands of disabled folks who are affected by the governor’s intractable, senseless decisions.

Karolynn K. Crowell

Woodland Hills

The wrong call on dayworkers

Re “Dayworkers, documented: Cellphone program lets laborers blog about their lives,” Sept. 20

A cellphone to document the work of day laborers, to speak their minds and share their stories? Are you kidding me? For the “$40,000 worth of cellphones to train laborers … from a mix of grants,” the organization should have opened some classrooms to teach these immigrants English. That would have made more sense; then they would have a chance of getting a better job and living a better life.

When I came to this country, nobody gave me anything for free.

Jutta Good

Torrance