To the Editor:
    This past week, I joined other constituents to meet with the District Director of Congressman Paul Broun’s Athens office to discuss healthcare reform. It will come as no surprise that Republican Paul Broun does not support any of the plans currently being discussed. At his town hall meetings, he is following the Republican leadership of suggesting that the reforms being presented would cause “senior loved ones to be drugged and left in bed to die slow horrible deaths.” I would like to remind Dr. Broun of the Hippocratic Oath which requires physicians to “keep the good of the patient as the highest priority” and “above all do no harm.” The claims of “Death Panels” have been completely debunked. So, it would seem that by Dr. Broun using this tactic, his highest priority is to protect a system that rewards the private insurers over improving the care for his constituents. Also, stirring up such strong emotions by using bogus arguments has the potential of harming any of his constituents who might be suffering from hypertension. It’s time for Dr. Broun to re-read that oath! I did appreciate the cordial meeting we had with Jordan Chinouth, the District Director. I doubt that anything we said will sway Dr. Broun’s mind. But, what was most enlightening was to hear about the bill that Dr. Broun will be proposing when Congress returns in September. The centerpiece of his bill is to eliminate Medicare and replace it with a voucher to each senior citizen to either go out and find private insurance or put the voucher towards a “health savings plan.” As I’ve mentioned before, private insurers have been so profitable because of the very reason that they have not had to cover senior citizens. So, how do you think it will work if Medicare recipients, who in all likelihood have pre-existing conditions, have to find a private insurer to offer them health insurance?

    Good luck with that! Even if it is mandated that they must cover seniors with pre-existing conditions, with so many of the Congressmen and Senators beholden to the money the insurance lobby distributes, private insurers will make sure they don’t give up their excessive profits. We’ve had more than eight years of Republican control without any attempt at improving our healthcare system. That should tell you something about their true commitment of working towards real reform. Although my math was way off in my example last week, the fact that there is so much profit to be made by denying care should be the tipoff that it is not the constituents who are being served. When the Republican leadership says that they don’t want some government bureaucrat standing between me and my healthcare, the only bureaucrats I see are those obstructionists in Congress.
Kiki Pollard, Madison