Several years ago, while a passenger on a freighter in the South Pacific, I needed some medical attention. Arriving in Australia, I went to an emergency room, where after a short wait I was examined and medication was prescribed.
Not being covered by Australia s national health insurance, my emergency room visit came to $36.
I paid that and had the prescription filled. For $6 I received a 60-day supply, enough to get me back home.
The Aussies taxed themselves so that this excellent medical care would be available for their people.
Other industrialized nations, in spite of having socialized medicine, seem like Australia to be prosperous and functioning quite well.
Why is it that we do not have universal coverage? Why is it that our elected representatives, with fantastic coverage for themselves and their families, are permitted to ignore the health insurance needs of tens of millions of our citizens?
I usually favor limited federal government, but in the case of health care there are huge advantages to a single-payer system.
Countries such as Denmark, Germany and France provide excellent care to all of their people for far less than Americans pay.
The key to making such a system affordable is the complete elimination of any role for insurance companies.
They typically take about 20 percent of premiums for profit and expenses. Similar government programs take only about 2 percent for expenses.
Insurance companies employ massive numbers of people to shift costs to others by denying and delaying claims and cherry-picking clients, while doctors offices require huge staffs to deal with many insurance companies.
Illnesses such as diabetes are best treated with long-term programs, which are not in line with short-term profit motives.
It just doesn t make sense to keep the insurance companies involved when providing universal health care.
Although I am a great believer in free enterprise and individuals taking responsibility for their own lives, I am slowly becoming convinced most Americans believe they have a right to health care.
If access to good health care is a right, as opposed to a privilege, then we must be prepared to pay the cost.
It would mean reining in the excessive earning power of physicians and having the government which means we, the people provide all health care. There is no free lunch.
We all know Medicare is a financial disaster. We will have to increase our taxes substantially. Are we willing to do this?
Regarding After the games are over; Years of being in the spotlight can make life difficult. But new challenges and commitment can help (1/23, A-1): If the intent of this story was to generate sympathy for Joe Randa, Cecil Fielder and others, then you missed the mark.
Perhaps the solution to the problem for current players is to reduce their salaries so that they will be forced to find meaningful employment after the game.
This will give them something to do while keeping them out of their spouses hair.
Martin L. Klein
I m crying big crocodile tears for the poor millionaire sports players who retire and either don t know what to do with themselves or manage to lose all their money.
Please tell me why is this front-page news and why any sensible person should care.
I enjoyed Decades later, apology is music to his ears; Victim and taunter from long ago help show kids the potential dangers of bullying (1/23, Local). Thank you for printing such an uplifting article.
Congratulations to Meadow Lane Elementary School in Lee s Summit for bringing in Lee Domann and Howard Ray for the presentation.
Lee s song, Howard Gray, is touching, apologizing for standing by and laughing while Howard was teased so many years ago in school.
Domann has created a video presentation about this that can be used in schools.
I would encourage all school administrators to use it on an annual basis to teach children about the effects of teasing.
Teasing is very hard on kids. I know from personal experience how it can affect the recipient s outlook on life for years to come.
Thanks to reporter Mike Sherry for a job well done. I sincerely hope The Star will continue the trend of printing such uplifting stories.
The Star s editorial about partnering local hospitals with University of Kansas Medical Center (1/22, Partnerships would benefit KU Medical Center, area health care ) overlooks the effect such a proposal would have on the School of Medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Currently, UMKC medical students and residents do the majority of their clinical training at Truman Medical Center, Children s Mercy Hospital and St. Luke s Hospital of Kansas City the same hospitals that now are being encouraged to forge closer ties with KU.
Instead of diminishing the role UMKC plays in providing health care to area residents, Kansas City leaders ought to pressure lawmakers in Jefferson City to expand funding for medical research and education in their own state.
According to a 2006 report from a blue-ribbon task force on higher education in Kansas City, UMKC s medical school received only $6 million a year in state financing (fiscal year 2003). For comparison, the national average for medical schools was $44 million, with KU receiving $70 million in the same time frame. Missouri can and should do better.
In his letter (1/22) about the post office not delivering his mail during the last ice/snow storm, Cecil Reid writes that the U.S. Postal Service s new slogan should be, We will get there when the weather clears up.
Mr. Reid should leave his house during our bad weather and see whether he can retrieve his morning paper without slipping or falling down on that ice and snow.
I carried mail for 37 years during weather far worse than our recent spell of bad weather.
Monday morning I stepped out to get the morning paper, slipped and fell on the ice, busted my head wide open, had to go to the emergency room and have the back of my head stitched up.
As for The Kansas City Star deliveries, these people drive cars and trucks to deliver our papers to us, thus avoiding having to walk on the icy streets and driveways.
As for no mail delivery on Martin Luther King Jr.
Day, this has always been a holiday for the post office.
I might suggest that Mr. Reid, the next time we have bad weather like this, take a walk outside his house and see how far he gets before he has to retreat back to the comfort of his nice warm home.
Howard C. Warner
It s a shame that our own mayor, Kay Barnes, must live in a blighted area that being the Briarcliff area north of the Missouri River. You would think that a person of such high standing in the community could live in a better neighborhood.
Have you ever driven through the Briarcliff area? Why, some of those houses are probably not even worth $350,000.
I m sure when she voted for the tax increment financing for this area, the mayor was thinking of what was right for all Kansas Citians.
I hope this tax break will be a help to you poor residents and business owners.
No wonder your readers sometimes seem to be geographically challenged when The Star itself doesn t even get it right. You reported (1/23, A-4, You can t get there by taking 71 south ) that explorers made it on foot to the Pole of Inaccessibility, which you explained lies some 540 miles northeast of the South Pole.
Please correct your error and explain to your readers that there is no northeast from the South Pole. Rather, everywhere else on Earth including the Pole of Inaccessibility is due north of the South Pole.
To give us a sense of where the Pole of Inaccessibility is, you could helpfully say that it lies 540 miles from the South Pole in the direction of the Indian Ocean, or if you like, up Pakistan way (65.
8 degrees east longitude).
A writer complained about Shawn Hornbeck s appearance on Oprah Winfrey s TV show (1/23). Shawn s family could not contain their great joy that he was now safe, and wanted to share their happiness with those who had supported them in their ordeal and with millions who rejoiced with them when he was found.
The Akers Web site stated that all media appearances were filmed on one day so the family could begin the healing process away from the spotlight.
Also, it s possible that Shawn chose to appear on Winfrey s show. Perhaps he had found some comfort and trust in Winfrey during his captivity.
She did not probe areas he did not want to discuss, and ensured that the interview would not hamper prosecution of the kidnapper.
Shawn s family is to be commended for sharing this joy and for their wise decisions in the healing process.
Missouri state Sen.
Chris Koster s illegal-immigration bill (1/24, A-1, Crackdown on illegals is proposed ) promises a better life for Missouri workers. Sen. Koster proposes that business participate in the homeland security program that verifies that employees are citizens or lawful immigrants.
A relative of mine owns a construction business in Missouri that pays good wages and benefits to its workers. He tells me he cannot win any business in Texas and California because contractors in those states use illegal immigrant labor, pay below-market wages and provide no benefits. My relative came up in the businesses as a laborer, and he knows that workers need decent wages and benefits to provide for their families.
Thanks to Sen. Koster s bill, he stands a good chance of continuing to compete in Missouri and to provide jobs for our citizens.
Pam Fichter (1/23, Letters) writes that in 34 years there have been 50 million abortions.
Let s think about this. That s 50 million people, many of whom who would have children of their own by now. Their children, too, will be having children soon.
So if they had two children, we are talking 150 million more people not counting their children s children.
My point: Were would we put them? There would not be enough work for everyone.
Technology is taking away more labor jobs daily. Crime would be through the roof. Housing and roads would eliminate all our natural resources.
In a perfect world, abortion is terrible. But reality suggests it may be a necessary evil. Unfortunately, the Christian right and reality have few commonalities.
Interesting, isn t it, that the pro-abortion crowd is apoplectic over Phill Kline s election to district attorney of Johnson County.
As attorney general of Kansas, Kline worked diligently to investigate whether abortion providers were failing to report child rapes.
One of Paul Morrison s first acts as our new attorney general was to fire the prosecutor Kline had appointed to look into George Tiller s practice.
One wonders how much money was poured into Morrison s election campaign by these baby killers.
As a Catholic, I am ashamed that Morrison and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who claim to be Catholic, are willing to turn their backs on these chilling allegations.
Kline s challenges will be significant because the attacks and deception of those who oppose him will continue to escalate. I am confident he will continue to be dedicated to furthering both the truth and the law.
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