Health Plan Hoopla
Without clearly stating the obvious, "America's Best Health Plans"[November 6] presented a compelling case for a single-payer healthcare system in this country. The growing ranks of the underinsured, the rapid escalation of premiums with commensurate decrease in benefits, and the anxiety of a nation held hostage by insurance companies was well described. It was with the pages of rankings of insurance plans that the need for a single payer comes into focus. The estimated $350 billion per year spent on paperwork would go a long way toward providing care for millions of people. It would be refreshing to see a politician stand in favor of the single-payer system that America deserves and desperately needs.
ROBERT S. KIEFNER, M.D.
Concord, N.H.
Fantastic coverage of health insurance plans, but how about pointing out how much we would save if Medicare was extended to all regardless of age; how much money is wasted by using inefficient private health insurance carriers and by doctors' offices chasing down insurance money; and how major corporations remain less competitive because of the money they spend on employee health (more accurately, sickness) insurance. In other words, the best health plan is the one that we can't get in this country.
DAVID B. JORDAN
Edgewater, N.J.
The article that introduces "America's Best Health Plans" references Betty Noel's endometrial carcinoma and a bill of $13,270 for the first month of treatment. Why should this be so expensive? Why should it cost between $1,400 and $3,240 to insert ear tubes? Does anyone realize that a self-pay patient may have to pay two or three times for a procedure as compared with a Medicare patient? On my wife's health insurance, she is charged full fees until the deductible is met and then the lower fee negotiated by the insurance company kicks in. I spent about 40 years in medicine, and I know abuses take place. We could greatly decrease healthcare costs in this country if everyone was really honest. As Mortimer Zuckerman stated in "Our Cheating Hearts" in the same issue: "Money, quite simply, has become more important to many people than reputation and personal integrity." This thesis should also be applied to the healthcare field.
THOMAS THOMPSON, M.D.
Wilmington, N.C.
Strangely enough, those of us who live west of the Mississippi or south of the Mason-Dixon Line get sick too. There is only one plan listed in Florida, Virginia, Iowa, and California, respectively. No wonder fewer and fewer people bother with health insurance each year.
VIRGINIA WILKINS
Denver
Editor's note: Because of limited space, only top health plans were included in the magazine. A complete list is at usnews.com/healthplans.
Hearts and Minds
The articles included in the series "Playing Defense" ["The Eye of the Storm"; "Hey, Let's Play Ball," November 6] are the first I've read that sound as if the writers did their jobs properly. They listened, quoted on-the-record named sources, and reported it straight. No anonymous sources, no think-tank outsiders, no disgruntled career naysayers. Just one gratuitous "eavesdroppers" comment at the beginning. Bravo. The people at the National Counterterrorism Center are our first line of defense against our mortal enemies. They need to be supported, cheered, and rewarded.
JIM MCMAHON
Los Alamitos, Calif.
Hearts and Minds
The articles included in the series "Playing Defense" ["The Eye of the Storm"; "Hey, Let's Play Ball," November 6] are the first I've read that sound as if the writers did their jobs properly. They listened, quoted on-the-record named sources, and reported it straight. No anonymous sources, no think-tank outsiders, no disgruntled career naysayers. Just one gratuitous "eavesdroppers" comment at the beginning. Bravo. The people at the National Counterterrorism Center are our first line of defense against our mortal enemies. They need to be supported, cheered, and rewarded.
JIM MCMAHON
Los Alamitos, Calif.
Way to go, U.S. News! tell our enemies all about our efforts and agencies to combat terrorism. Your recent articles exposing the efforts of the National Counterterrorism Center were the answer to a terrorist's dream.
DAVID L. SMITH
Punta Gorda, Fla.
In your report, you describe one mission of our intelligence agencies as "understand[ing] why people join terrorist organizations and other groups engaged in antisocial activity." We will get nowhere if we don't think outside our western value systems. Joining a group gives purpose to these terrorists' existence among approving peers and leaders and feelings of some control and power over their futures. This is particularly emphatic for those knowing only generations of poverty and oppression under authoritarian regimes. Not until we accept the reality of centuries of tribal, religious, cultural, and social hatreds and that we cannot cure their problems or expect them to embrace modern democracy, will we be able to deal with these issues.
DAVID HORN
Oakland, Calif.
Campaigns for a Cure
The interview with Columbia University physician, author, and historian Barron Lerner ["The Celebrity of Disease," November 13] serves as a timely reminder that celebrities, especially the ones who are sick, have "helped shape modern medicine and how we view our own health." In Zambia, a developing African country, former President Kenneth Kaunda openly declared that one of his sons was suffering from AIDS and then mounted a massive publicity campaign on the preventive aspects of the disease with creative, eye-catching posters and slogans that have helped save thousands of lives.
KANGAYAM R. RANGASWAMY
Waunakee, Wis.
Parkinson's disease patient Michael J. Fox is uncomfortable and suffering, but he is not a desperate patient as described by Lerner in his interview. Fox never fails to call this illness a blessing and his experiences, as a result, enrichment to his life.
PAULA WITTEKIND
Florida State Parkinson Action Network Coordinator
Parkinson patient for 17 years
Rockledge, Fla.
Lifetime of Learning
In addition to boomers taking regular college courses and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute offering lecture programs to senior citizens, there is a tier of continuing education programs offered by many leading universities ["The Class Goes Gray," November 6]. UCLA Extension, for example, provides ongoing educational opportunities through the Plato Society, an organization of more than 400 mostly retired men and women who meet weekly in small study-discussion groups. Each 14-week term, Plato offers a choice of about 25 subjects from art and science to literature, history, and more. Courses are self-taught, and each member leads one discussion topic a term. Seniors who have time for the sheer joy of learning and doing so in concert with their peer group can get in touch with nearby colleges and universities to find out if they offer similar programs.
DON R. CUNNINGHAM
Pasadena, Calif.
An important segment of the learning-in-retirement movement is composed of peer-learning organizations typified by Sacramento State University's Renaissance Society. Sponsored by the university for more than 20 years and nearing 1,000 members, the core of the Renaissance Society program consists of seminars on subjects ranging from bonsai to the Supreme Court, from personal memoirs to American intellectual history. Coordinated by volunteers, they feature presentations by members who have made the commitment to do in-depth research on a specific subject and share the results with their fellows. Supplemented by numerous other programs, including a weekly lecture series, excursions, and travel programs, the peer-to-peer learning model provides seniors opportunities to remain intellectually sharp, build friendships, and encourage a feeling of community between themselves and the local university.
JOHN H. ANDREW
President
Renaissance Society
Sacramento
Thank you for the wonderful article "The Class Goes Gray." It made me think about enrolling at Rowan University, within 5 miles of our home. I am 81-years-young and need more mental stimulation. I have to get away from the computer.
SAL BAIO
Washington Township, N.J.
Presidential Parallels
The Bush administration may downplay the comparison between President Lyndon Johnson and President Bush, but "Two Texans in Trouble" [November 13] correctly points out that both the current Iraq conflict and the Vietnam War began on the basis of faulty intelligence. The White House may not like it, but the bad intelligence behind the start of the Iraq and Vietnam wars is what makes those conflicts so comparable.
KENNETH MICHAEL WHITE
Upland, Calif.
"Two Texans in Trouble" Author Kenneth T. Walsh provides little prospect for victory in Iraq with disturbing comparisons to the Vietnam conflict. Most significantly, the Vietnam defeat was motivated by mounting casualties over a long period of time, which seems to be the case in Iraq. Can a persistent enemy prevail in any war with America? Another perspective should be considered in answering that question: that of the enemy. Our enemies will be encouraged to prolong their war if they see our resolve faltering in the wake of mounting casualties. Our lesson should be that we must resolve to work together toward conquering our enemy, who is not invincible. We must face the fact that, whatever strategy we use, casualties cannot be minimized by opting out of the conflict.
ANDREW MCLAUGHLIN
Arlington, Va.
There are more parallels between LBJ and Bush than the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. Both presidents demonstrated little concern about running huge deficits, both domestically and militarily, impairing the lives of younger generations. They are different in that Johnson seems more human, with his efforts toward civil rights and combating poverty. Most striking is that Bush had the opportunity but failed to learn from Johnson's problems, and he has turned traditional Republican principles upside down in his adventurism abroad and big-government spending at home. We are in this trap because Republicans forgot the lessons that they once taught the nation.
LYNN DAVIS
Tustin, Calif.
"Are the comparisons fair?" Absolutely not! LBJ played the hand he was dealt. Yes, the Gulf of Tonkin situation was a disaster, but he did the best he could with the rest of it. President Bush, the other Texan, fomented an armed incursion on false pretenses, and this nation is paying the price for his folly.
MICHAEL L. OWEN
Muskogee, Okla.
Your writer said that "In each case, America's commander in chief immersed the nation in a faraway conflict for reasons that turned out to be misleading or just plain wrong." I think that is far too polite and overly cautious. In my opinion, both presidents certainly knew that, if not a blatant lie, it was at least a gross exaggeration of the facts. Evidence to the contrary was ignored, and in each case the people were conned. They say those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. The amazing hubris of the Bush administration in ignoring lessons of the past will, sadly, be recorded by future historians.
SUMNER WEISMAN
Framingham, Mass.
U.S. Troop Analysis
Kudos to Michael Barone for his column "Stuck in the '60s" [November 13]. Not only did he provide an accurate analysis of Sen. John Kerry's mind-set, but Barone correctly concluded that Iraq is no Vietnam (contrary to "Two Texans in Trouble"). As a veteran, I respect Kerry's service in Vietnam but not his service in the U.S. Senate. As we anxiously await the new Congress in January, millions of Americans ponder the question of Kerry's diatribe against U.S. fighting forces now that he has additional support from his party.
BOB CHARLESWORTH
Prescott, Ariz.
I don't know what Kerry meant by his remark, but it didn't equal Barone's insult: "No one is 'stuck in Iraq' unless he or she volunteers...." While serving as a flight instructor at Fort Rucker, Ala., I have talked with dozens of young soldiers, and not one of them has said that he or she volunteered to serve in Iraq. In July 1967, I was one of the first Army pilots to return to Vietnam for a second tour. My daughter, born during my first tour, was 26 months old, and my son was 1 month old. Do you think I wanted to return? I volunteered to stay in the Army and to defend America, and this encompassed a lot more than Vietnam. Our young people today have volunteered to defend America, not to die for the Bush administration or the Republican Party.
CARL L. HESS
Chief Warrant Officer 4, Army (Ret.)
Ozark, Ala.
Concern over the educational levels of recruits is not a put-down of the troops themselves. We should be concerned that only 83.1 percent of Army recruits are high school graduates. While this is a higher percentage than the national graduation rate of about 75 percent, neither is cause for celebration-not because dropouts are "depraved or incompetent " but because our educational system has failed them. The active-duty enlisted ranks have fewer college graduates than the comparable civilian population. Many young people join the armed forces to obtain funding for college. Given that military service is the first full-time job for most recruits, to say that "economic levels of our military personnel are higher than those of civilians of the same age cohort" does not explain why recruits volunteered in the first place. Perhaps I should be relieved that the armed forces provide educational and economic benefits, but I feel bad about inequalities that compel some young people to risk their lives for decent pay and an education.
ELIZABETH CAFER DU PLESSIS
Bloomington, Ind.
Barone's views about the stakes in Iraq are legitimate points for discussion, but he undercut his message by taking cheap shots at the Democrats. Democrats and Republicans alike have called for reassessment of our current course in Iraq, and many have put forward legitimate alternatives. But instead of debating these alternatives, Barone maligned Kerry and others by claiming that they view the American military as "depraved or incompetent" and that they are not capable of understanding the differences between Vietnam in the Cold War and Iraq in today's war on terror. The charges just don't add up, are off the point, and don't contribute to serious public debate.
DEAN RUST
Alexandria, Va.
This story appears in the November 27, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.