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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: The Floor is Yours
Recently, a physician wrote to you and said healthcare is a human right. He was wrong. He said a single-payer system is the only way to fix healthcare in America. He was wrong there as well.
Healthcare is a group of goods and services. If we make any product and/or service available to people by force of law, even though the patients cannot pay for it, we have decided that healthcare workers will be their slaves. What else would you call someone who involuntarily labors to provide healthcare for another citizen for no compensation?
The physician was right in the sense that multiple-payer healthcare has not worked in America, but what he fails to see is that healthcare was not an expensive disaster until the federal government got involved in it in the early 1960s. It is the fact that the feds are in the mix at all that distorts the true market forces, worsening year by year. And his solution is to let them have the whole system?
I think not!
Our founders gave each American the right to be left alone and to pursue their own ends, but there was no government-funded charity or entitlements in the original Constitution, save one: the right to a court-appointed attorney if you are accused of a crime and cannot afford your own. And this one simple entitlement was just a way to do what the rest of the Constitution did: protect an individual's rights from those who might abuse the individual.
Charity has always been an American strong point, and I don't think people who cannot pay will be swept under the rug if we don't have government-run healthcare. But the only way to fix the current mess is to get the feds out of the healthcare business, not hand it to them on a silver platter.
— John M. Bills, Jr. MD, Cordova Medical Clinic
I have been pleased with both the Commercial Appeal and Memphis Medical News bringing the premature and infant mortality deaths back to the forefront again. I have worked in various groups regarding this. I am actually involved in the adopt-a-school program through my church. The K-5 school is right in the middle of the 38108 ZIP code.
I do hope this focus is a true focus by the various politicians mentioned and not a political "focus"during various upcoming elections.
During the times I have been involved, I have seen more lip service paid to this issue and not as much in the "trenches" efforts as I would like.
There are multiple consulting reports and committee reports gathering dust in desks or book shelves. If we do get funding (and I hope we do) I would like to see some accountability for the funds as to how much is used for additional academic studies etc., and how much is spent that directly benefits these children and mothers. I do hope to see some dramatic changes in this area during my lifetime and not something that comes up when it seems to be convenient for politicians and then seems to disappear until it needs to be brought back up during election times and politically convenient times. When I contribute to charities I always look at how much is actually spent on the cause and not on paperwork, salaries, and administrative issues. Since I feel strongly about this, I thought it fair to give my name and not be some anonymous person with an agenda. Well, I guess I do have an agenda, and that is to make a major change in premature and infant mortality.
— Bill Appling Tags:NoneRelated:
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