Faith in public option

I’m getting tired of this nonsense about a public option destroying private insurance. I notice that UPS and private schools are doing just fine, thank you.

The competition between the two keeps everyone honest. After graduating from high school I chose both private, church-affiliated colleges and a public college to complete my education.

Is health care reform going to cost us some money to implement? You bet it is! Just like going to war in Iraq is still costing us some money.

I have both Medicare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield through my former employer. Both seem to work just fine for me. If Medicare is going broke, let’s fix it! Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Now, I don’t know if my Blue Cross/Blue Shield rate is going to go down or not in the future. I do know that when individuals without insurance show up at emergency rooms, the hospitals pass that cost on to those of us fortunate to have insurance. If I’m going to pay more anyway, I’m willing to take the chance rates might not be as steep if more people had access to affordable health care.

Lloyd Brown

Elk, Wash.