Letters: ‘No Country for Sick Men’

President Obama asks us to recognize the need of providing health care for all as a moral obligation, one we cannot sidestep as a civilized nation.
Harold Mensch, Poway, California

If every American adult read T. R. Reid's article, the discourse over health insurance would be much more sensible and civilized. It seems other nations are able to provide coverage for their citizens because their leaders aren't crippled by special interests.
Gloria Lepp, Clackamas, Oregon

T. R. Reid writes that "health-care system[s] reflect a nation's basic cultural values." Thus we expect all citizens in a representative government to have a voice. President Obama's biggest problem in selling his health-care initiatives is that many people feel run over by the incredible speed with which he is trying to get this sweeping, change-life-as-we-know-it legislation written and passed. Even with the midterm elections looming in a year, can't he at least honor the qualms so many of us feel, and put the brakes on for a few months? We don't feel heard; therefore, we don't feel respected.
Mary Jenson, San Diego, California

Our health-care system in Canada is far less expensive but so much further-reaching than our neighbor's to the south. Canadian taxpayers sleep better knowing that our disadvantaged, unmotivated, even criminal citizens are not in pain or dying prematurely from lack of medical care. The downside is simply that we must wait for elective treatment. Our system is widely viewed by Americans as a socialized nightmare, but in my view it is one of the best. I've seen both up close, having done a medical residency in Michigan. We Canadians don't get everything right, but we know hockey, we know comedy, and we know health care.
John Taliano, M.D., Niagara Falls, Canada

It would seem that when all is said and done, what distinguishes America's system from others is that here medical practitioners and the health-insurance CEOs view medicine as a pathway to riches, whereas their counterparts in Europe, Canada, and New Zealand do not.
Hugh Plant, Glenwood Springs, Colorado

T. R. Reid writes, "In the other advanced democracies, though, there's no debate. All of them recognize a right to 'health care for all' as a moral obligation." Does America belong in the category of advanced democracies, given this "moral" failing?
Phillip Olivier, Aptos, California

Other civilized countries can provide better and cheaper health care because of the lack of a profit motive. Take away the profit margin and we can have any variety of payment systems, private or government, and still provide good health care to all. The insurance companies know it, politicians know it, and I hope now the American public knows it.
Nrapendra Nath, La Grange Park, Illinois

© 2009