Letter: 'Parasitic' insurers threaten health care

Plump, gorged ticks. That's an accurate description of the parasitic insurance companies attached to our health care system. We need government-run, single-payer, universal coverage. Medicare for everyone. Such could be achieved by expanding Medicare. At a minimum, we should lower the Medicare eligibility age to 55: Many folks begin to have real health problems in their 50s.

At Representative Wally Herger's town hall meeting, after denouncing government involvement in health care, he went on record as saying that Medicare and VA health care are important components of our system and that he would oppose dismantling them. His position makes no real sense. Either government involvement in health care is good, or it isn't. Perhaps the hundreds of thousands of dollars he has received from health insurance companies and prescription drug companies have diminished his ability to see the whole situation clearly. Mr. Herger may even be reasoning that insurance companies are necessary to our democracy because they spread so much money around.

On the other hand, Rep. Herger is an astute politician. Had he been for dismantling Medicare and VA health care, his support would have evaporated like rain on hot lava. Many of the folks in the room had to have been covered under either Medicare or VA health care.

These town hall meetings are about much more than health care: Some McCain-Palin people are really, really, really sore they lost the election.

Charles Scarfe
Yuba City