To The Editor:

Three cheers for your excellent feature on health care (11/13 issue) and thanks to Reginald Skip Lee for sharing the frustrating details of his dealings with our current health care system and associated insurance companies.

Bringing a national debate such as health care home to Trade Street helps everyone to better understand the issue.

The problems my wife and I have had over the years in dealing with insurance companies pale in comparison to Mr. Lees, but the one thing I learned and can pass on to others is never take the first three rejections from the claims department seriously. I truly believe its the policy of every insurance company to say no the first three times a claim is submitted!

Speaking for the insurance industry, Glenn Hanford was too quick to point the finger of blame toward the far-off&bsp; federal government surrounded by monuments of marble and memorials of stone in Washington, DC. He blames complicated federal laws for handicapping the insurance industry. Glenn, Congress writes very few laws! Most often lobbyists write the laws for Congress!

In this case, over the past 70 plus years, the insurance lobby has written the bulk of these laws, which you say are overly complicated. They are complicated because complicated speech begets loop-holes, and loop-holes beget profits. We even have a modern nomenclature for this, its called catch-22.

Mr. Hanford also said that no one has ever been able tell him about one government program that works well and is cost effective. Well Glenn, lets start with when you awoke this morning, the water that came from your tap was clean and safe. Perhaps your children attend public school, perhaps they ride the big yellow bus to school. When you take them to your free public library you are interfacing with an efficient, cost effective program. (Anyone want to try and put a price tag on the true value of that

&t; open and free public library?)

Then you make sure you have your drivers license, which is not really yours, it belongs to the government, which is why they can take it away from you if you are an irresponsible driver, and drive on the federal highway (I-26) to the airport which is managed by the federal government and get on a commercial airliner that is going to be controlled by the FAA, and if the pilots pay attention to what they are doing you will land safely at your destination.

The American Hospital Association wants reform, the American Medical Association wants reform, it seems that everyone is for reform except the insurance industry. Thats interesting! Perhaps they fear profits slipping from hundreds of billions, to just billions annually.

John Calure