Health care issue about nation's values

This letter is in response to Cal Thomas' editorial on Hillary Clinton's proposed health care plan. I am not going to speak directly to Clinton's plan because I am not well versed enough in her proposal to dissect it. I merely wished to comment on some of Thomas' views on health care.

Cal asks why liberals detest the free market. Well, when it comes to health care, there is plenty to detest. If the free market was the solution to health care, then why do 47 million people not have health care today? Why have insurance providers not slashed their premiums to cover these people who cannot afford health care at the going rate?

I'll make a stab in the dark here. Could it be because insurance providers are not in the business of making sure everyone has access to health care, but instead are in the business to make money?

The price for a good or service in a free market is set at the point where the supply and demand intersect, which will always leave those unable to reach that price point without that good or service. That's fine if we are talking about cars, TVs or clothes. It's not OK when you are talking about a person's life.

Referencing a 20/20 report by John Stossel, Thomas pointed out that when health care is affordable, either through government regulation or being offered for "free," more people take advantage of it and thus delays occur in receiving health care.

I agree with this completely. If we made it easier for 47 million Americans to have access to health care, then there will be longer waits for the rest of us to see our doctors. Thomas apparently finds it repugnant to wait to see his doctor while someone of lesser means gets cared for. Myself, I find it repugnant to tell 47 million Americans to go without health care so I don't have to wait in line.

The question for this nation is simply this: What are our values as a people and are we willing to live by them?

Scott Douglass

Gilberts