Dear Editor:
Congratulations of the most superlative order on the introduction of Health Care News. I have never before seen 20 pages of exposition with which I could so completely agree.
I left Britain in 1949 on account of disgust with the culture of socialist pacifism, the abominable treatment of Winston Churchill after the war, and—the last straw—the institution of the National Health Service.
I was further shocked to understand the intransigence of the federal government in perpetuating the abusive policies of causing businesses to engage in employer-based health insurance and the collection of employees’ tax obligations.
Health care encompasses just about everything associated with daily sustenance, food, shelter, heating, clothing, transportation, etc. as well as medical and surgical services. These things are properties produced by people from which they expect to earn a living by selling to consumers; nobody has a right to these properties without paying for them or insuring against the risks inherent in the possibility of loss.
One of the inherent problems in this national debate is the lack of honesty and truthfulness. It is often quoted that some 40 million or so Americans do not have any health insurance; this is not necessarily true. Every person employed is covered by insurance for work-related disease or injury, at employers’ expense. Most people who buy auto insurance have accidental injury insurance; injuries sustained while on business or municipal properties are covered by insurance, as well as on airplanes, buses, and trains.
I have been aware of The Heartland Institute for some time through the National Federation of Independent Business and I have had a mind to become a member, but the constant outflow of money to support this-that-and-the-other has dictated restraint. Now I can no longer justify not subscribing.
A.O. Griffiths, DVM
Urbana, Illinois
March 18, 2001
