Letters to the editor, September 4, 2009

More about Barstow Junior High School

On August 31, I was interviewed by Eunice Lee over the phone about an article for the junior high. When the article came out, I was dismayed to see she had left out all the positive comments I made and only quoted my response to her question about fights on campus. She omitted the positive remarks about the junior high staff, the school site council and my thoughts on the incoming principal.

I told her that all the staff worked well together and were supportive of the kids. I also mentioned the staff has been working very hard to enforce a uniform discipline policy on the campus. Finally, I touched on the need for more parent participation and the students to take a more active role in their education.

Antoinette Holmeyer, Barstow

Experience with government health care

Since my name was referred to in Lisa Miranda’s letter to the editor (“On health care profits,” August 28), I now find it necessary to set the record straight.

First, I have no special interest one way or the other in this health care debate, and I am certainly not “well-to-do.”

I am a disabled Vietnam veteran that lives on disability retirement. Which puts me two clicks away from the poverty level. I don’t own a home, I rent, and the car I drive belongs to my daughter.

But when it comes to government-run health care, I know first-hand how it works. For many years my health care was run by the federal government. Under this program the government had the final say so as to my health care, not my doctor.

I was assigned a primary care provider. This doctor was a general practitioner. If this doctor believed I needed to see a specialist, he had to get approval from a government overseer to send me to a specialist. If that doctor thought I needed to see another specialist, once again I needed to get approval from the government overseer. If one of these doctors wanted me to have a medical test like a MRI, I had to get approval from the government overseer to get the test done. Tons of paper work and weeks of waiting to get approval for medical care from the government overseer.

At every step of the way a government overseer was monitoring what my doctors believed was the best medical treatment for me and if this overseer believed it wasn’t cost effective, or if the overseer decided there was a treatment or a test that was cheaper than the one my doctor advised me to have, I was only allowed to have that treatment or test. At no time did this government overseer ever lay eyes on me. This overseer was a faceless, politically appointed government employee, not a doctor.

The facts are people are living longer today than they ever lived before, and if Quest Laboratory does a blood test on me that my doctor ordered and the results come back that my cholesterol is high, I guess Ms. Miranda would tell us, “it’s a giant conspiracy between my doctor, Quest Laboratories, and the drug companies.”

Health care is a complex situation and 80 percent of Americans say they like the health care they are getting now. If President Obama’s health care program goes into law, Medicare will see bitter cuts. Were told that Medicare is in trouble already, so if were going to spend two trillion dollars on health care, lets fix Medicare first.

So far I haven’t found any doctor or hospital that doesn’t accept Medicare.

Steven Beavers, Barstow