Best-Laid Health Plans?
"Covering the Uncovered" [May 14] about "health insurance for all" illustrated the possibility that local costs will skyrocket if seriously ill and uninsured people flock to states that subsidize health insurance. Then again, this would be an unnecessary consequence if every American had the option to purchase affordable health insurance. The time has come for innovative leaders to pick up the pace and finally give all Americans the sensible choice of keeping their own health plan or buying into Medicare.
THOMAS M. CASSIDY
Clinical Associate Professor
School of Social Welfare
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, N.Y.
Regarding "Covering the Uncovered": If California is considering a proposal to provide health insurance to everyone in our state who can't afford it, then perhaps we should also buy everyone who can't afford it a car or a home. The story mentioned that Peter Brook of Massachusetts gets all his medical needs free. Then he asked, "How are we going to pay for all this?" Good question; how indeed? Better yet, who?
EVA CORBETT
Westminster, Calif.
Focus on Food Safety
"A Human Connection?" [May 14] detailing human food contamination should have been featured on the cover of your May 14 issue instead of being relegated to Page 39. Consumers need to know about the failure of the Food and Drug Administration to protect our human food supply from melamine. You warned of contaminated chicken, pork, pizzas, protein bars, and baby formula. Since the article appeared, the number of chickens fed food contaminated with melamine increased to 20 million from the 2.5 million to 3 million in Indiana that were contaminated (and eaten).Just because the California Department of Food and Agriculture "contacted 24 people who purchased pork suspected of contamination" and concluded that they suffered no "ill effect" doesn't make it safe.
DOROTHY FOREHAND
Samson, Ala.
Candidate Conundrum
In regard to "Who's the Real Obama?" [May 14]: I don't understand the comparison between the civil war in Iraq and the one in Darfur. One consists of a genocide while the other consists of various factions vying for power in a civil war caused by U.S. inefficiency in resolving conflict. Why should Barack Obama have to have the same view on every single civil war? There are dozens going on worldwide, and I'm sure nobody believes one course of action would work for all of them.
PRANAV SACHDEV
Weston, Mass.
As the presidential campaign gets into full swing 18 months before Election Day 2008, it is important for the voters to carefully examine the qualifications, experience, and background (or lack thereof) of the potential 2008 presidential candidates from both political parties. President Dwight Eisenhower noted: "Someday there is going to be a man sitting in my present chair who has not been raised in the military services and who will have little understanding of where slashes in their estimates can be made with little or no damage. If that should happen while we still have the state of tension that now exists in the world, I shudder to think of what could happen in this country." We must not be impressed by a candidate who expounds on what he or she will do when sitting in the Oval Office. In the long run, it is experience in managing a large, complicated organization that truly counts.
NORMAN G. AXE
Santa Monica, Calif.
Pet Turtle Hurdles
Regarding Washington Whispers and "Cowabunga: Turtle Power Returning" [May 14]: The public should know that these are not ideal pets for children. Sure they look cute when they're about the size of a silver dollar, but these turtles grow very large, very quickly. I rescued a pair from a pet store thinking I would have the wherewithal to properly care for them. In a single year, these two turtles had each grown to the size of a dinner plate. Next thing you know, I'm buying a 150-gallon tank with all of the necessary filtration systems and facing the prospect that these behemoths would live many more years to come while I was rapidly losing real living space in my tiny condo. I was fortunate to have found a legitimate "turtle rescue" organization. Turtle power, indeed!
JANET LAWSON
San Francisco
This story appears in the June 4, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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