Letter: Health care system can still work

In her Aug. 8 letter headlined “Obamacare: Take a pill and die,” Loretta Torres asks, “Why does the government have to scrap our whole system and start all over?” Nothing is being scraped, just reformed.
Ms. Torres doesn't understand that millions of Americans have been using a single-payer government health care program for 44 years: Medicare! Frankly, I am very pleased with

Medicare and all the health professionals I have seen, including those at Sutter North.
In 1993, I sustained sudden hearing loss in my left ear accompanied with severe tinnitus (noise in the head) so loud, the sound was double the normal sound level (20 decibels) sufferers have when experiencing this condition. This caused chronic sleep deprivation and many other problems.

After researching tinnitus, in 2002 I contacted the late Dr. Jack Pulec, co-developer of the cochlear implant Rush Limbaugh wears, in Los Angeles to do a cochlear nerve section (cutting the nerve) and hopefully obtain relief. I simply made an appointment, flew down to Los Angeles (at my expense), and had the surgery done.
I have no complaints, and never has a “bureaucrat” ever questioned or denied any care or services in 16 years. Moreover, Medicare has a place on its form to complain about excessive charges, such as “$164 to pay for two rolls of gauze and tape for a…dog bite wound.”

Marc Weinstein
Yuba City