Behaviors must change

The U.S. health care industry is essentially a profit-motivated monopoly that capitalizes on a vulnerable American public. It extracts obscene amounts of money for care that relies on the treatment of symptoms using surgery and prescription medicine. It does its best to ignore or even suppress low-cost preventive care and natural healing alternatives.

True health care reform would have addressed this reality and wrested control from the powerful special interests who seek to maintain the status quo and shackle the American public with health care costs so huge that the viability of the entire economy could be jeopardized.

Americans are generally an overweight and unhealthy lot. Ultimately their poor health habits will result in chronic disease requiring expensive treatment. If the current “health care reform” becomes law, the young and/or healthy among us will pay the cost for this treatment. Such is the nature of all insurance; the fortunate subsidize the unfortunate.

Yes, America desperately needs true health care reform, a fundamental rethinking of our entire system. We need to promote good health by education and heavy taxation of unhealthy activity. We need to distribute the cost of health care fairly, rewarding good health habits and vice versa.

Grant Tolton

Republic, Wash.