The profit motive has no place in health care, and is, in fact, a disincentive to provide care in the best interests of patients and of the system as a whole. As a former health-care equipment provider, I experienced uneven and misleading processes, intentional complexities and outright abuses of providers and beneficiaries by private health insurance bureaucrats. It's a classic shell game -- now you see it, now you don't.
The basic fact here is this: Health insurance companies, left to their own designs, operate fraudulently. Medicare works. Medicaid works. The VA offers up a fine example of government run health care. As a Vietnam veteran, I continue to benefit from the excellent care provided by the Augusta VAMC.
A public option will benefit all.
J.M. Bower
North Augusta, S.C.
