At first glance, I was pleased that Senator Kennedy was renewing his effort for universal healthcare. As I read on, I was less than pleased that he was considering Chapter 58 as a model for the nation. Chapter 58 has not brought universal coverage to Massachusetts when approximately 60,000 people will be receiving waivers from the mandated insurance law. Many of the newly insured have such high co-pays and deductibles that they avoid seeking health care and neglect preventive services altogether. Chapter 58 does not include any cost saving measures when 30% of premiums still go for administrative costs of insurance companies. Isn't it time to look at what other countries are doing? Isn't it time to stop pandering to insurance and pharmaceutical companies? Isn’t it time to recognize that healthcare, like education, is a right. It is time to sign on to representative Conyers' bill HR.676 and ensure that every American has equal access to affordable quality healthcare - Janice Goodell

I was delighted when I saw the headline in the Globe that said Kennedy would be working on healthcare, but was dismayed to read the whole article. We need a new approach to healthcare, both in Massachusetts and in the US. Chapter 58 has not provided universal coverage, and many of those who did get insured have high deductibles and co-payments and the state does not have adequate funds to subsidize more low-income coverage. We need to think of healthcare not as something that satisfies the shareholders of insurance companies and we should study the successes and the problems of systems in other countries. - Elizabeth Atkins, Belmont

Here we go again! The same prattle from the same people about how they are going to “fix” the healthcare system. How many years have we heard the same thing?

Are politicians and their aides so busy that they cannot look at studies showing what really needs to be done? Do they really want to rely on industry analysts for the answers? The Insurance and Pharmaceutical Industries brought us this problem. Do we expect them to solve it?

Or are our politicians and the media so addicted to these industries’ dollars that we couldn’t have an honest discussion?

It is time to be blunt. We cannot afford universal coverage unless we eliminate the Insurance Industry from the healthcare system and control the costs of the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Right now, 30 to 40% of every healthcare dollar goes to overhead. Unless we can drop the overhead to under 10% and have over 90% spent on real healthcare, we cannot afford universal coverage.

Demand a real, honest discussion.

Tim Macchio, Boston

Senator Ted Kennedy and former State Senator Jarrett Barrios must know better than to consider Chapter 58, the current Massachusetts Health Care Law, as a model.

They must know:

• The Wall Street Journal reported (May 21, 2008), “”Over the coming decade ... expected overruns float in as much as $4 billion over budget;”
• 13% of low income individuals still have no coverage and many of those who do have such high co-pays and deductibles that they still cannot afford to get the health care they need;
• Chapter 58 does not contain cost-containment strategies such as uniform billing, bulk purchasing of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies at negotiated prices, and a care-ratio that would demand that at least 90% of each health-insurance-premium dollar be spent for actual health care (Medicare currently spends about 96% of its premium dollars for actual health care; some insurance companies spend as little as 60%);
• the Connector (the expensive bureaucracy established to administer Chapter 58) has recently estimated that 60,000 of the people who are supposed to buy their own insurance will get waivers because they cannot possibly pay for it.

Are Senator Kennedy and former State Senator Barrios too enamored of the health-insurance industry to support Representative Conyers’ HR.676, the universal, single-payer healthcare bill that will provide improved Medicare for every United States resident without wasting billions of our tax dollars?

Judy Deutsch, Legislative Chair, Mass-Care