Health care reform should top list

There has been much written in this forum on the issue of health care reform. Both pro and con. Of late it has mostly negative musings.

We have the usual suspects on the negative side. While we face numerous problems as a country, health care reform is one that should be at the top of the list. How does someone believe that some reform of health care is not needed? Most of us know some family that has been impacted by either not having enough health ins. Or none. The cost of health care has become astronomical, most of those in the middle cannot afford their families.

If some sickness befell your family and you had no insurance, what then? The insurance and pharmaceutical companies have spent more than $1 million a day to persuade our opinions. It looks like they won, since not one Republican thought this was a good idea? The insurance giants big pharmaceuticals have been making record profits the last 10 years on the backs of sick Americans.

I ask anyone to tell why making huge profits on Americans getting sick is OK? The biggest argument from most is the cost. Socialism they call it. The cost is about $800 million over 10 years. So much of our society is socialized that this argument hardly has any merit, but one of highest costs in our national budget is for the defense. The Pentagon spends $700 million a year while the costs of taking care of our veterans is about $300 million. This not even close to what is needed. So, we argue about health care reform, but no mention is made about the trillion dollars we spend a year on defense.

Edward Tobolik

Roselle