To the editor:

The airwaves are full of political spots tearing hair and gnashing teeth about the new national health care system. Those on the extreme right and the news media have dubbed this system “Obamacare” in their efforts to further bash the elected president of the United States. One of the tenants of this system is to provide for everyone having health insurance with the requirement that everyone participate.

So, in the unlikely event that the Republicans seeking traction in the next election succeed in repealing the national health care initiative, who is to pay? Who will pay the hospitals for uninsured persons who show up at the emergency room for everything from sniffles from a cold to life-threatening injuries? These critical health services are not free. Hospitals are required to provide services no matter whether the patient can pay or not.

Without some sort of requirement that individuals take financial responsibility, YOU pay when you go to the hospital for services — you who have demonstrated responsibility by having health insurance or who are entitled to Medicare you have bought and paid for all your working life. Medicare is not an “entitlement” as some political candidates have indicated.

All states require that you have automobile liability insurance to have driver’s license; it is illegal to drive without coverage. Why should it not be mandated that all persons have some form of coverage to pay for their health care and remove this burden from those of us who do have medical insurance coverage?”