To the editor:

After reading Dr. Matthew Buxton’s Jan. 28 letter, I have to respectfully disagree. I must assume he can afford the $800-plus a month (for two people) it costs to buy a decent health policy. If you make $16 per hour, that would come to one-fourth of your income. A tax break won’t help.

Others can only afford a policy with high deductibles for catastrophic illness, still $400 per month, and possibly pay $14,000 out of pocket in one year. How do those laid off pay their $800 “cobra” insurance” when their unemployment brings in only $700 per month? Some elderly folks, on fixed incomes, still have to pay hundreds each month for medications, even with the prescription drug bill.

Many are forced to make hard choices such as, should I reattach the tendon, or lose the use of my index finger forever? Should we pay the water bill or buy our heart medication? Some people never have a complete physical, which could detect problems early enough to treat them. Young couples, with problems in childbirth and without insurance, can be saddled with insurmountable debt.

They don’t have to make those choices in Canada. Years ago my father had an emergency there and his five-day hospital stay cost him $500, much less than it would have been here. My wife was also referred to a good doctor there, by the emergency room staff, ($46 office visit). Why can’t we have that kind of affordable care here in the USA?

Stephen Crockett,
Lawrence