My LTTE to St. Pete Times, and Tampa Trib. Universal Health Care

The St. Pete Times ran an editorial today about "America's Health Care Albatross", calling for universal health care. Here's my response.


Thank you for your timely and important editorial. The current broken system is a drag on American industry as well as families and healthcare providers. For all the money that is paid into our system, some areas of the country have higher infant mortality rates than Havana or Beijing. We are the only industrialized country in the world where a hard working family can be bankrupted for getting sick or injured.

Don’t politicians find it ironic that we pay for their healthcare, even when we can’t afford our own. The only candidate that I know of, who has a plan for universal healthcare, is John Russell, who is running for Congress in Florida’s 5th District. His opponent, Rep. Ginny Brown- Waite, is heavily funded by insurance and financial interests, so I wouldn’t expect much action from her.

America cannot survive, in a globally competitive world, with a health care system that is run in the interests of the insurance industry, to the detriment of doctors as well as patients.