Letter: Political system hoses public

Rep. Herger’s Oct. 1 telephone town hall about pending healthcare legislation was tragic and incredulous.  All but one of the callers thought the legislation would cause them harm, lose their present coverage, force them into the public option, or “it’s socialism.” it’s government takeover, it will bankrupt the nation, “I will lose my state retirement coverage”, etc. It seems they knew little or nothing about the public option. And Herger did nothing to dispel their misconceptions.

The proposed Public Option is intended to provide competition to force healthcare costs down.  Without this option, and covering 45-plus million uninsured, the cost of healthcare will skyrocket out of control.  The healthcare and insurance companies will laugh all the way to the bank.  We are paying dearly for their greed. 

Healthcare costs have risen three to four times the rate of inflation for less and less overage over the past 10 years, while personal income levels have remained almost stagnant.   Our individual healthcare costs are more than twice that of most other nations.  We’re 39th down the list of industrialized nations, with poorer results. The medical industry is bloated with excessive testing, excessive medical and administrative costs, and unwarranted profits (one-third of what we spend on healthcare).

Two-thirds of the nation wants this public option. Our legislators, including Herger, are not listening to the people. They are beholden to moneyed interests and need to perpetuate themselves in office. Wake up people!  We’re being ripped off by corporate greed at unprecedented levels, and being hosed by the political system.

William Liechti
Marysville