THE TRIBUNE LETTERS: Feb. 1. 2010

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February 1, 2010

Anonymous The News and Tribune Mon Feb 01, 2010, 09:33 PM EST

Healthcare ‘option’ is just that, an option

This time I got more than halfway through a letter from Dave Matthews before almost choking on my coffee. I admired his even-handed discussion of Constitution issues in his letter printed Jan. 20, until he spoiled it with this sentence: "And if you think your medication is rationed now, just wait until government gets to decide what you take."

How ironic that Mr. Matthews accuses others of the tactics of lies and deceit. It's preposterous to claim that fixing our sorely broken healthcare system amounts to government rationing. Even if a “public option” is what Mr. Matthews is so scared of, and admittedly it has received a lot of bad press, allow me to break down this scary phrase into simple words. “Public” means that everyone will have access to some form of health coverage, even those who don't have an employer-sponsored plan. "Option" is related to the word "optional," which means not mandatory, not forced. The option would be in addition to existing private insurance plans, under which people will continue to choose the level of coverage that is right for their families. Sure, there is no guarantee that the coverage we may desire will be affordable — but if you think healthcare is expensive now, “just wait” a few years under the current (unreformed) system and see how you like it.

Fixing a broken system is not the same as communism, monarchy, or whatever other distractions Mr. Matthews is tossing out there. Perhaps Mr. Matthews would prefer to have no insurance (home, vehicle, life) at all, but I'm not willing to take that risk.

— Sam Johnson, New Albany

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