The Kansas City Star
Letters
7/22/07
Love him or hate him, Michael Moore’s films always generate lively discussion. His latest about health care in America (or the lack of it) seems to be resonating with more people than usual and in a mostly one-sided way. If the straw poll as indicated by The Star’s letters page is any indication, a critical mass may be building for radical reform of our health-care system.
Tens of millions of voting, campaign-contributing, aging and ailing baby boomers are beginning to have their first serious encounters with the health-care system, and for many it’s been a revelation. Our insurers are dictating our health-care choices. In some tragic cases, life-saving therapies are denied altogether. The uninsured or underinsured get little or nothing and often are faced with financial ruin.
For 50 years, the for-profit sector has used the specter of socialized medicine to frighten us into complacency. “Do you want a bureaucrat making your medical decisions for you?” I look at Social Security and Medicare and see well-run, efficient service providers.
So if I have to choose between that bureaucrat with a mandate from the voters and an insurance executive with a mandate from his stockholders, I’ll take the public servant every time!
Mark Hastert
Kansas City
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