To the Editor:

As I read Ms. Cheryl Everys letter in the November 12 Bulletin, I had a difficult time connecting the dots between her descriptions of government sponsored health care and the need for a new government sofa, washing machine or pair of jeans. The issue being discussed nationally is universal health care, something all major industrialized nations of the world have except for the United States; not redecorating our houses with free government/taxpayer bought furniture or a new free wardrobe.

The United States ranks 37th in the world in the quality of health care received, according to the World Health Organization, and that is a long way from being the best. Our current system certainly has islands of excellence but, in reality, it is mostly just a sea of mediocrity.

The only area where we rank first is in costs. No one else gets close to us on that one. A fact of life is that if health care is beyond anyones financial means, the quality of the health care makes absolutely no difference anyway.

The private health care insurers in the U.S. do not insure anyone and they do not have a single penny invested in anything other than making large contributions to our lawmakers like Senator Burr and Congressman Heath Shuler, whose votes help keep us all in this perpetual mess. The actual role of an American private health insurer is nothing more than managing the many medical money pools, aka group insurance plans, of various companies and organizations and charging as much as 30 per cent of the pool to dispense and handle claims.

In other words, they dont make or even have a product to sell to anyone.

May I suggest that everyone should read the front page story about Mr. Reg Lee in the Nov. 13 Bulletin. Unfortunately, this is a prime example of how well a lot of the private health insurers do their jobs.

The United States of America belongs to all Americans and we all have a role to play in order to keep this country safe, healthy and free for us all to enjoy. Just as Ms. Every tries to make the point that it is unfair for wealthy Americans to bear what she perceives as an unfair share of the burden of caring for the health of all Americans, I could also try to make the point that it is also unfair for underprivileged Americans to bear an unfair share of the burden of defending this great nation in our all volunteer military. Our military is second to none and it is way past time to make our health care system also second to none.

George E. Patton