A sadly misinformed gentleman recently wrote a letter bashing health insurance companies and capitalism in general.

I have dealt with various insurance companies for many years and they do not decide what doctor you use or what medication you take. Even health maintenance organizations allow you to choose your doctor from a list of those that accept that plan — much like Medicare, which some doctors do not accept. Many HMOs allow you to go to any doctor, they just pay a lesser amount for doctors or drugs not on their list.

Most regular insurance plans allow you to choose your own doctor limited only to those available in your area. The key word is choice. This is something the single-payer system does not give you, though some people have been led to believe it is the cure for all problems.

The single-payer system, run by the government, is the beginning of all problems — ask anyone who has lived with it. The government decides what bills it will pay and how much, there is no alternative.

The government decides how much your life is worth; in Britain it is $35,000, any operation or procedure over this will not be paid.

There are problems and inequities with the present system, but there are more problems and inequities with many of the ridiculous proposals that we know about from the 2,000-plus page bills that were made public and others that are being discussed behind closed doors. And none of those proposed changes insure everyone.

At least at present, no one is refused treatment at any government-supported hospital or clinic, regardless of ability to pay. This includes local, state or county government as well as federal — so the myth that people are dying, because they don’t have health care is just that, a myth, and a scare tactic used by people with an agenda.

Almost everyone, at some time or other, has been without health insurance. This could be handled much easier than the mess they are proposing.

Adding thousands more people into an already overwhelmed Medicare system is not the answer. I do not believe the empty promises of bureaucrats, who tell us that not one penny will be cut from Medicare. The president himself has said that Medicare funding will not last more than 10 years with those currently covered. How can you pay out even the limited amount they do at present, and add many thousands more people?

There are only two ways — limit coverage or raise taxes on everyone. For those not familiar with Medicare, it is not free. It pays a small percentage of doctor and hospital bills. Everyone on Medicare has to buy a medical supplement, plus a prescription drug supplement.

They now propose doing away with Medicare Advantage Insurance. These plans give the money deducted every month from seniors’ Social Security checks to an insurance company to cover both medical and drugs. There is little or no extra charge to the insured. Doing away with Medicare Advantage plans will force people into Medicaid, which also is running out of funding.

Of course, insurance companies need to make a profit and there are certain restrictions, such as elective or cosmetic surgery. Believe me, the government will not insure these either.

And yes, the government does want to make decisions for us that should be ours and ours alone — not at the whim of some government.

Insurance companies make mistakes — so does the government. The government does not have to make a profit, because it is using our money. I don’t hear any of the bureaucrats offering to cut their salaries and benefits.

Democracy and capitalism are not the same, but you can only have democracy where capitalism is allowed to flourish. Former communist countries have learned this the hard way. It is not enough for people to have good intentions; we all know where that road leads.

You don’t see people breaking down the doors and fleeing to communist countries and dictatorships, because they have too much freedom and opportunity here. Why would we want to change this country into one from which most people are trying to escape?

Those people who think this is such a terrible country ought to try living in what the consider to be the “ideal” society. For generations, people have come here for that freedom and opportunity — the opportunity to take care of themselves — not to have government take care of them.

— Betty Rinker is a Clarksville resident.