Government often bests private sector

In light of the recent health care debate about whether a government option should be considered to offer competition in the marketplace and insure the close 50 million without health insurance, I offer important historical reminders on how the government provides relief.

In 1935, the poorest citizens in the nation were the elderly and infirm. President Roosevelt's Social Security Act of that year and additions over the next 10 years would help the citizens that had built our nation live out their lives with a decent financial means in the middle of a depression.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed a series of legislations into law to develop Medicare, a government program funded by contributions by all citizens to assure that seniors would be guaranteed health insurance.

The key question is not why did government get involved, but why didn't the private health insurance industry get involved to help the seniors, infirm and financially burdened?

I enjoy capitalism, from shopping malls to Disney World, as much as the next American. But in a society that continues to always trust the corporate world - a world of Enron, Bernie Madoff, poorly run auto companies and the industrial robber barons - I ask in light of our successful government social programs why do some Americans trust the corporate health insurance industry to solve the health care crisis when they have created the disaster over our long history?

Steven Titus

Grayslake