To the editor:

Scorn is easy. It drips with superiority — arrogant that it does not need to engage with those who disagree with it.

Recently, the Journal-World has opinion pieces dismissing single payer health care in a few words. The idea is so ridiculous that no argument needs to be raised.

Thirty of the 33 developed countries have universal health care. We are the lone exception. But are we right and they’re all wrong?

Americans pay more in health care than any other nation — and for this our health care is 37th in quality among nations, according to the World Health Organization. That’s without considering the costs of medical bankruptcy, lost productivity, or assigning a cost to the minimum of 20,000 people who die without insurance. (This is a difficult statistic to get a reliable number — estimates go as high as 40,000. Also, people may have some insurance but be unable to afford, say, insulin).

I realize the columns are not statements of Journal-World editorial policy. But surely the paper should take some responsibility for educating and informing people. There has never been a column with an alternative view.

Anne Haehl,

Lawrence