Having read Jay Ambrose’s April 21 column, “Obama offers weak Medicare fixes,” I have to respond. I agree with the need to control the huge deficits from Medicare and Medicaid, but I disagree with several of his points.
His statement that Obama’s plan to get tough in negotiations with Big Pharm would “leave millions in agony and send others to early graves” is the sort of rhetoric equated with “death panels” and is equally absurd. I assume that Big Pharm makes a profit when selling medications in Europe and worldwide, where those medications are cheaper.
His statements that government should stay out of health insurance and give vouchers to seniors and have them seek insurance in the private market are again absurd. Has Ambrose priced private health insurance? These are the same corporations that control what services are provided and they continue to take huge profits. I personally would prefer “governmental intervention between patients and their physicians” than have that same power in corporate hands.
Let’s work on decreasing the cost of health care in this country. Europe has done it without a decrease in their level of care and most of Europe’s health care have better outcomes for their populations.
