Letters to the editor, July 24, 2009

Health care needs reform

In the U.S.A. we spend twice as much on health care as any other country in the world. Countries that spend only half as much as we do cover all their citizens, have healthier people who live longer and have more productive lives than we do. How can this be?

The answer is simple. Most of what we spend goes to exorbitant profits for the pharmaceutical industry, the medical profession, and the health insurance industry.

For example; Norway spends five percent of GDP on health care while the U.S. spends 16 percent of GDP on health care, yet due to a good system with an emphasis on prevention and nutrition Norwegians have an extremely low incidence of diabetes, heart disease, and other catastrophic diseases. (low cost-good system=good health)

Our health care industry is a major factor in dragging down the financial status of Americans. Skyrocketing health care costs are hurting American families and straining already strapped budgets for businesses and governments.
This cannot continue! Without reform, the health care industry will soon self destruct just as we have seen other industries do and as usual the people will be the big losers. Our economy cannot recover without health care reform.

Call your elected representatives and tell them you support health care reform now before Congress.

Wayne Soppeland, Barstow

Government health care risks privacy

If President Obama’s health care program goes into law, all and any medical treatment you have under his health plan will be stored on a government computer.

If you’re HIV positive, have any kind of venereal disease, have a mental disorder, have an abortion — all this will be stored on their computer.

Government computers are being hacked into every day. How long will it be before all your private medical information appears on the Internet?

Tell our elected representatives (Pelosi, Boxer, Waxman, Feinstein) to fix the economy first, then deal with Iran and North Korea, then stop the flow of drugs crossing the border, than eliminate all these radical Muslim terrorists that want to kill us.

After all that they should take Nancy’s jumbo jet away from her and tell her to take a bus or a train back and forth from California to Washington, which would save hundreds of millions a year.

I mean it’s not like she really does anything anyway.

Steve Beavers, Barstow