Wild assumptions about health care

Where does Richard Rohlfing get his "facts" about health care in America? Maybe from Michael Moore, but wherever he gets them, he should list his sources.

First claims there are 50 million uninsured in our country. Even the most ardent liberal politician doesn't exaggerate that much. There is not reliable census information to confirm the number of uninsured, only estimates.

Then he claims that those who are unable to pay their medical bills have their assets attached or seized. That is blatantly untrue. Hospitals and doctors are not allowed to lien assets to collect their bills. They can turn them over to collection agencies, but that's it.

Then he says people are left in waiting rooms to die. Where are his numbers on that? All public hospitals are required to treat everyone who comes in their doors regardless of their ability to pay, insurance or not.

Many illegal aliens use emergency rooms like doctors offices and never pay for the visit, which jams up many emergency rooms from taking care of those who really have an emergency. This has gotten so bad that many hospitals have closed their emergency room doors.

Rohlfing then asks "why are all the people climbing on the Medicare health care wagon when they reach 65?" Well, maybe because you're forced onto Medicare when you retire. You don't have any other option.

On the subject of Medicare, it's an entitlement program losing billions of dollars each and every year. When we baby boomers hit 65, the drain on the Treasury will be unsustainable. Rationing of care will follow just like it has wherever socialized medicine has been tried.

I've worked with people on Medicare for 18 years and have talked to people from Canada and England about health care. Without exception, they say our system is far better then theirs.

I'd like to know if Rohlfing is aware of the Walter Reed VA hospital nightmare, where government health care for our troops was found desperately lacking. And that's a very small number of people compared to the whole country.

Our system of health care has problems, but the private health care system in our country has spurred many advances and breakthrough technologies used throughout the world that wouldn't be there if the federal government ran it.

In fact, wealthy and powerful people from around the world come here for medical care because we've got the best system, at least for now.

Anyone who thinks the federal government can run the entire health care system better then it's run today doesn't understand the tort reform that is needed, cost shifting or anything other than inaccurate emotional rhetoric with little or no substance or truth.

Terry Gavin

Elgin