Published: October 05, 2009 10:44 pm      

Letters to the editor - Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009

Stakes are too high for delaying reform

America’s last substantive debate about health care reform collapsed 16 years ago amid partisan rancor, public anxiety and health-industry resistance.

Yet time has only aggravated the central issues behind that debate: unacceptably high numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans of all ages; spiraling health care costs for individuals, business and government; and weak outcomes relative to health care spending (fully 16 percent of gross domestic product this year).

As voices for Indiana’s oldest and youngest citizens, AARP Indiana and the Indiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics share the belief that the status quo cannot hold. And together we urge Congress to pass meaningful health reform legislation yet this year.

The stakes are too high for delay.

As we write, almost 9 million children and 7 million adults ages 50-64 are uninsured. America ranks 24th in the world in infant mortality rates.

Prescription drugs remain too costly, especially for the 3.4 million seniors who fall into the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” each year. And 30 percent of people ages 19-26 are uninsured as they should be transitioning from public programs or their parents’ insurance into employer-based coverage. This is especially true for young people with pre-existing conditions such as Type 1 diabetes.

To be sure, Congress has acted in the past to address the health care needs of young and old – at least in part.

• It created Medicare in 1965 (demonized at the time as a socialistic path to rationing) and added the Part D prescription drug benefit in 2003.

• Congress also created the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 1997 and reauthorized it earlier this year – with joint support from the American Academy of Pediatrics and AARP.

But too much unfinished business remains.

Children, youth and seniors alike face prohibitive cost sharing or co-payments for crucial preventive care services, including childhood immunizations and adult cancer screenings.

Young and old are harmed by shameful racial disparities in health care. And pre-existing conditions – a reality for children as well as adults – too often excludes vulnerable populations from needed care.

Delay will only aggravate the problems that have festered too long already. The policy options are well known. The financing options are well known.

Congress must act now to strengthen our health and our future by passing meaningful health care reform.

America’s youngest and oldest citizens are depending on it.

Sarah Stelzner, M.D., Indiana Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics; June Lyle, AARP Indiana

Our national debt is a problem for all

It is an inviting fact that America is by far the greatest nation on earth. We need to rise up and act like we are that!

In the past America has always, despite its faults, risen to the needs and emerged stronger than she was to start with! That sleeping and underlying power is yet with us, just beginning to reawaken to some very serious needs!

Millions and more millions of citizens from coast to coast feel it and know it! It cannot be adequately described. It is like great joy. It is very real and vividly felt. That is the spirit of America!

In the past great, great leaders have risen up and, with the support of the people, have overcome any obstacle that stood in the way of “right makes might!” That has been the American way for 230 years and it can and should continue, with God’s blessing!

We see ample indications that the true but lethargic spirit of a vibrant, exciting America is as it has always been! We need to believe in ourselves and be alert to preserve our own destiny whenever necessary.

It does not take a genius to recognize that we have a desperate need to correct our national debt; it might be classed as a national emergency!

It is clearly imperative that a strong turnaround of national spending must take place to free us from the bonds of perpetual indebtedness or worse! It is, in scope, a very major task; such tasks in the past have been solved by a unified national effort.

This problem is, indeed, no different in that respect. It is everyone’s problem and it needs everyone’s support to get it corrected.

It appears that President Obama and some members of Congress are completely oblivious of the dangers and consequences of a huge national debt.

The reckless manner that our national fiscal responsibilities are being thrown to the dogs is a disgrace to all of us and it needs attention now!

A bit of research has shown that in all wars we have been involved in, more than a million men and women have died. Think how many a million is. Indeed our freedom is a very, very dear commodity! And it is to be treated as such!

Our present indebtedness is a giant insult to the previously mentioned heroes who died – a great insult to the present millions of faithful American citizens and veterans, and to the thousands of brave men and women in the U.S. military today! Shame! Shame!

Yet our love affair with the U.S.A. is real enough that millions and millions of us would give our all if need be for her!

Harry Dishon, Kokomo