Everybody needs it

Having just read the letter from J. Roland Gainsford ("Health Care Is Fine," July 12), I feel compelled to write. Mr. Gainsford, you have Medicare! You are benefiting from "socialized medicine!" Those of us who want single-payer government-run health insurance just want everybody to have Medicare or something like it.

I am a small-business owner and I have been struggling for years with insurance premiums. I am a Type 1 diabetic and literally am dependent upon prescription medicines to stay alive. I am afraid of losing my health insurance because that might mean I won't be able to get it back because of my pre-existing condition. I have decided to look for a full-time position with health insurance and work for someone else rather than stick with my own business.

I can think of at least two other cases where small-business people whom I personally know got into trouble because of health-care costs. Those who purport to be in favor of free enterprise should consider this. Having single-payer government- run health care would remove a huge obstacle from those of independent, entrepreneurial spirit who want to establish their own businesses.

ELAINE SADOWSKI
South Side

'Socialized medicine' is a boon to seniors

A recent letter by a Medicare recipient, J. Ronald Gainsford, ("Health Care Is Fine" July 27), is one of several letters by Medicare beneficiaries who have had happy outcomes from major surgery, are happy with their Medicare or Medicare Advantage coverage and disfavor what they regard as "socialized medicine."

They do not realize that the Medicare that paid most of their bills is one example of socialized medicine.

Mr. Gainsford reports that he paid about $2,000 per year for his insurance; the government, through Medicare, paid about five times that much for him to his insurance company. In all likelihood many of the seniors who join Medicare Advantage plans either do not realize or do not remember that they signed away their (government-paid) Medicare benefits to their insurance company.

Persons needing a heart replacement before joining Medicare, and who are not covered by an employer, may well face a bill in the range of $50,000. Persons with a previous history of heart trouble and seeking health insurance as an individual, are not likely to find it at any price.

Ours is one of the few advanced countries in which persons who are used to paying their bills can be driven to poverty by a catastrophic illness.

Seniors, like me, who are enjoying the benefits of one form of socialized medicine should understand why millions of others need and feel that they deserve the same kind of protection.

MILTON MANES
Shadyside

Democracy in action

On Saturday I witnessed democracy in action at a health-care seminar led by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St, Clair. The crowd was so large that it had to be moved to a second venue and was still standing room only.

Together, we said the Pledge of Allegiance, we honored a World War II veteran, John Cooper, who received an overdue Bronze Star and a long standing ovation. There were Democrats and Republicans, old and young, and we all listened and questioned and participated. As far as I know, there was no press coverage of this event.

The health-care bill, as it stands, is so huge that I do not believe anyone could have read it. The rush to pass it is just a ploy to get the bill passed before we know what it contains. As I understand it, even if passed, it will not go into effect until 2013. What is the rush? Why can't we take our time and do it right?

There are a few things that I heard and found outrageous. It's estimated that if this plan goes into effect 4.7 million jobs will be lost in the private sector and in their place 55 new federal agencies will be established. Tort reform is off the table, as is the possibility that Congress will be required to have the same health care as the rest of us. They will keep their golden plan, no matter what they force us to accept.

People, you need to be paying attention to what is going on in Washington. Are we just sheep being led to the slaughter? Contact your representatives now.

HELEN L. RICHARDSON
Mt. Lebanon

Health care for all

My husband and I feel very fortunate to have good health-care insurance coverage. Though health care was supposed to be provided free after retirement, we now have to pay a small amount for the supplement to Medicare we carry. We are grateful and consider ourselves to be among the lucky folk who have access to good health care at a reasonable cost.

But what about those who don't? Those who don't earn enough to purchase health-care insurance, who are out of work or whose coverage has been dropped or are unable to work for health or other reasons.

Universal health care -- cradle to grave coverage -- should, I believe, be everyone's right. But who is going to pay for it is a question I hear so often.

The answer is you and me. The fortunate ones. Those who have jobs and can afford good health-care coverage and who can afford to help provide it for those who aren't as fortunate. It sounds like communism but to many others it seems to be about compassion.

Isn't that what we are called to do as Jews, Christians, Muslims, believers and non-believers -- to care for those less fortunate?

I pray that the Congress and Senate will come up with such a plan so the United States can catch up with the rest of the world.

BARBARA WATSON
Scott

Let them sign up

There is really only one bottom line to all of the rhetoric and hyperbole cluttering the news these days about health-care reform being forced upon us.

If those in the U.S. House and the Senate won't accept it as their personal health plan for themselves and their families, then why should we citizens? If the plan is so wonderful, then let our politicians sign up first.

E. ROBERT HASIS
Pleasant Hills

Those Blue Dogs

Reducing health-care costs doubtless, is necessary, and I do not question the sincerity of the Blue Dog Democrats or the people they represent in demanding it ("Blue Dogs Barking in Pa" July 26).

Reductions can be achieved by improving information technology and communication between systems and changing incentives in the way physicians are paid from fee-for-service to salaries so that doctors can provide the best rather than the most expensive care.

The anti-tax position of these folks, on the other hand, is misguided to say the least. This attitude has brought our country to the dire situation of undermining education, police protection and other vital services, notably in California but also here in Pennsylvania and in other states.

What is more, adequate universal health care for life makes small increases in taxes to ensure its ongoing availability much more acceptable. People will no longer have to fear changing jobs, loss of coverage or bankruptcy as a result of out-of-pocket expenditures.

ELIZABETH STERN

Oakland

Prof. Gates does not understand police work

Professor Henry Louis Gates may well be an expert in his academic field but his credentials do not extend to police work, including the role of first responders to reports of residential burglaries.

Whether Dr. Gates likes it or not, a neighbor called in a suspected burglary based on observations of two men trying to enter a house by ramming a door.

She was doing him a favor. Police arrived and found Dr. Gates on the telephone. He insisted that he was the lawful resident but was apparently reluctant to produce ID. He became even more difficult when officers entered the house after he agreed to produce ID. This apparently escalated Dr. Gates' emotions and led him to continue expressing his belief that he was being treated unfairly because of race.

Dr. Gates must think that burglars tell the truth and that no burglar caught in the act would consider lying about being the homeowner.

Likewise, being on the phone does not make him a lawful resident; some burglars use the inside phone to tell confederates outside they've made it inside so that they might also enter.

Police know these things, but Dr. Gates may not. If he thinks about it, Dr. Gates should know that police responding to a burglary cannot safely let the suspected burglar walk around the house on his own to get ID. That's how cops get shot. Such an opportunity allows a real burglar to arm himself or escape. The next time his house is broken into, Dr. Gates should call the president and they can handle the investigation together.

JIM LOVE
Squirrel Hill
The writer is a retired federal prosecutor now in private practice.

The mayor should enlist everyone in a cleanup

I am writing in response to the July 22 story, "Convention Center Area Could Use 'Spiffing Up' " and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's plan to clean and spruce up "... areas that need addressed in and around the Downtown community."

While inevitably it is the burden of city and county government to make sure Pittsburgh "shines in September" (in the mayor's words), I also believe that Pittsburghers throughout the city would welcome the opportunity to shoulder some of this weight.

Throughout the past several weeks, letters to the editor have been submitted comparing pristine towns abroad to our beloved city and her abundant filth. Would it not be lovely if we, as a community, organized to combat our blotted landscape?

I challenge Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to name the dates and locations (perhaps at his new spiffy garbage cans throughout the city) for his residents to congregate for a citywide sweep, a cleanup initiative. We will bring our bags and brooms -- we just require the mayor's leadership.

Civic duty for the next several months may need to include participation in weekend community clean-up initiatives.

I will begin today. Who's with me?

BETH GALASKA BURZUK
Brighton Heights

Unconstitutional acts

It's done. The American people now own 61 percent of an auto manufacturer, General Motors. The question in my mind is "How could this have happened?" The Constitution of the United States outlines the powers of the federal government in the Preamble. They are "to insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare" of the citizens of the newly formed United States of America.

I don't believe there are any articles or amendments anywhere within that document that allow the government to spend billions of dollars buying manufacturing facilities, banks and insurance companies.

I believe that the people of this country need to take a good hard look at that document and see how limited the government's role was supposed to be. The Founding Fathers did not intend what today's executive and legislative branches have become.

If we the people don't stand up and cry out loud that "You don't have the right to do that," we're liable to find ourselves in a communist state where free enterprise is a thing of the past. Under the guise of social programs we will be given a place to live, told where we can go for medical attention and where we can do our banking and maybe what car we can buy.

Between the bailouts of Chrysler, GM, Countrywide, AIG and all of the other parts of the "stimulus" spending bill, we are spending ourselves into bankruptcy.

KAREN MATISZ
Cheswick

G-20 and libraries

When the announcement was made that Pittsburgh had been chosen to host the upcoming G-20 summit, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that the city "is an area that has seen its share of economic woes in the past, but because of foresight and investment is now renewed, giving birth to renewed industries that are creating jobs."

This renewal process did not start on the watch of our current crop of city officials, but I'm sure that they would not deny themselves credit for sustaining what has proven successful. That said, it is utterly reprehensible that while our elected officials will tout their role in the transformation, they wash their hands of a primary vehicle of that transformation, the Carnegie Library.

Right now, primary sources of funding for the library -- the Regional Asset District tax and the state -- have been, or soon will be, reduced to the point of possibly having library services cut in our neighborhoods, the same neighborhoods undergoing "renewal" and "investment" with "foresight." The meaningless support of $40,000 per year from the city budget provided for the city's own public library system is beyond laughable.

As the preeminent source for information and self-education, as an access point for technology and as a mandatory component of civic and democratic processes, the role of Carnegie Library in allowing residents to participate in our city's transformation is immeasurable. With the spotlight of the world soon upon us, I would hope city leaders feel embarrassed enough at this lack of commitment to city residents to reconsider their position.

STEVE BANKS
Carrick
The letter writer is a library assistant at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville branch.