Ideology Infects U.S. Healthcare System

Re “Healthcare Costs Take Big Bite From Economy,” Feb. 9: The report by the Boston University School of Public Health says: “The U.S. is a nation of incrementalists and tinkerers, not of ideologues.” What nonsense!

It is only ideology-driven propaganda that prevents us from weighing the merits of universal healthcare coverage. Meanwhile, until we learn to thumb our noses at ideology, I guess we can just go on paying twice the average per person cost of healthcare of such countries as Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain -- “countries that guarantee healthcare for all their citizens.”

Helen Maurer

Mission Viejo

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Your reader raises an excellent question about Bush’s definition of “catastrophe” in his healthcare overhaul (letters, Feb. 3). Being 55, I suspected my good health luck would eventually run out. Because I am self-employed, often low-income, and my health insurance premiums skyrocketed as I aged, the only policy I could consistently afford was basic PPO coverage for hospitalizations and emergencies.

In July, I was shocked to learn I had a breast tumor, and further shocked to learn that Blue Cross considers cancer “chronic” rather than “catastrophic.”

Though the company’s negotiated rates have saved me thousands of dollars, I have also spent thousands of dollars out-of-pocket for exams, diagnostics, prescriptions and chemotherapy. If a friend had not told me about MediCal’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program assistance, I could not have afforded these services during the months I’ve been too sick to work.

Cancer treatment involves one or more years of expensive medical services, and this is only one of numerous “chronic” diseases to be considered in this overhaul.

Susan S. Braig

Altadena