I have received encouragement from some who have read this blog to submit my health insurance reform position to the press for publication.  A letter I submitted made the Sunday Forum in today’s (Nov 1, 2009) edition of Raleigh’s News & Observer (N&O).  The paper edits letters for space and so it does not contain the full submitted text (and the title, Cost Conundrums, is theirs), but the major point is made. The article was published by the N&O on the net as well and the link is:

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters/story/166406.html

I have additionally sent links to articles I have written to our elected officials.  The free press is a wonderful part of our system that permits civil participation in debate.

Many thanks for the suggestions and comments that have been sent to me.  Again, feel free to post comments directly on articles of interest – that can be done anonymously by using a ‘handle’ rather than your real name should you wish.  That might get some dialogue going which is one of the objectives of the blog.

The text as copied from the posting follows.

Art

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Cost Conundrums

Between the ages of 55 and 60, my health insurance premium has increased 150 percent, from less than $650 per month to over $1,600 per month, approaching $20,000 per year to keep the same level of benefits we had just five years ago.

I am self-employed and in 2005 my wife developed an acute leukemia and is fortunately in remission. But she would be uninsurable should we lose our health insurance, and she is years away from being Medicare-eligible.

Medical care contributes to longevity. As we get older we are more likely to develop serious life-threatening illness and yet as we age health insurance premiums rise. This can result in reduction in benefits or perhaps even the inability to afford insurance at all when people need it the most.

The ability to obtain health insurance in our country should not be determined on the basis of profit risk to an industry. There should be an option for the less fortunate of our citizens and something that controls cost as our citizens age.

Dr. Art Kamm

Apex