End secrecy over healthcare bill
Re “Red alert: GOP could destroy healthcare,” Opinion, June 14
If ever there was a matter of public policy that cries out for nonpartisan expertise, it is the design of a healthcare system. In respect to complexity, resource demands and susceptibility to the undue influence of special interests, our healthcare system surpasses all other American institutions — and we all depend on it.
The process underway in the Senate to redesign our healthcare system is unencumbered by facts and dominated by sterile ideology. The sick will suffer when the system fails, as it surely will if the current process continues.
Responsible members of Congress still have it within their power to speak up and redirect this shameful exercise. We can only hope that a loud and clear message from an aroused American public will make this happen. Richard Ugoretz, MD San Diego
Scott Lemieux is right to condemn Senate Republicans for writing their version of the American Health Care Act in secret, without any input either from Democrats or affected individuals or businesses. But he’s wrong when he writes, “There is no recent precedent for anything like this closed process for such a major bill.”
This is how Republicans have been operating for years in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Kansas, where they have control of the governorship and legislature. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is merely bringing those tactics to Washington so he can push through unpopular measures before anyone has a chance to organize against them. Mark Gabrish Conlan San Diego
The leftist idea that Republicans want to gut healthcare for the poor so they can lower taxes for their rich masters is getting stale. What Republicans should be doing is reducing their healthcare’s scope to make it more affordable.
As economist Thomas Sowell observed, “Insurance covering everything from baldness treatments to sex-change operations is more expensive than insurance covering only major illnesses that can drain your life savings.”
As for reducing tax rates for the rich, that’s how you make the rich possibly pay more in taxes. Federal revenue will increase if wealthy investors can make more money investing in the economy instead of keeping cash in tax shelters. Patrick M. Dempsey Granada Hills