Broken system

Re “Patients served by transparency in health pricing” (Other Views, May 18): Dr. Michael Layne’s op-ed was quite good. We do not have a universal, socialized medicine system in the United States due to the power and influence that the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and other non-direct care organizations wield. Their financial support of our elected officials ensures that no meaningful legislation will ever be considered in Congress.

When Medicare expansion was proposed, the torrent of scare tactic advertisements on TV was overwhelming. When Congress pushed to allow Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate medication prices, the pharmaceutical industry placed numerous advertisements on TV touting the loss of future research on cancer and other drugs — a false assertion.

Pharmaceutical companies will go wherever the most significant profit lies. It is well known within the pharmaceutical community that research is focused not on cures but on sustainment drugs. Patients must take these drugs over long periods, creating greater profits for the company.

Health care is driven by profits, not by human needs. This results in placing many people at grave risk. Until the American people force Congress to act to control health care costs by replacing insurance companies with a national health insurance program (single-payer system) that can negotiate rates for all health care, we will be stuck with an overpriced, underperforming health care system.

— Talbot N. Vivian, DHA, LFACHE, Yorktown