Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
My recent visit to a dermatologist exemplifies why U.S. healthcare costs are out of control. The doctor sprayed some liquid freeze on a small spot on my face and then gave me an overall skin check. His total time with me took about four minutes.
Then his assistant (not a doctor or nurse) cut off six small moles (skin tags) around my neck. She spent no more than about five and half minutes. My bill for this 9.5 minutes of work was $950. That comes to $100 per minute!
Why are healthcare costs out of control? It’s called unbridled greed.
One simple action could help cut healthcare costs in the U.S. dramatically. All medical providers should be REQUIRED BY LAW to post their fee schedules in simple English. They should also be required to provide their patients with a written estimate, like an auto mechanic, before any work is done. That way the customer could compare prices.
We need to insist that our politicians listen to us and not the American Medical Association lobbyists.
These skyrocketing healthcare costs are eating up a huge portion of our gross domestic product. If this trend is not reversed, it will destroy our entire economy.
Joe Zahler Fort White, Florida
Dear Editor,
On Friday, January 22, President Obama told a group in Elyria, Ohio “..And that's why we enacted incentives that are beginning to give rise to a clean energy economy, that are starting to translate into real jobs making solar panels, making windmill blades, making cutting-edge batteries.”
This statement was made in OHIO, a state that produces 86 percent of its’ electricity from coal. And, in examining the full text of the President’s speech, other than the above statement against it, coal was not mentioned at all. Electricity made from coal powers these new ventures!
This administration is trying its’ best to stop mining. Nit-picking regulators are requiring such ridiculous requirements that the industry is strangling. Unnecessary time delays are also a noose around our necks. Coal miners have real jobs, too.
In line with The Presidents’ desire for prosperity, I would hope that he, the EPA and the Corps of Engineers would see what is happening and take steps to prevent our lights from going out due to a lack of coal-produced electricity. I would also encourage readers of The Journal to visit the FACES of Coal Web site http:/www.facesofcoal.org/
<https://mail.google.com/mail/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_top, check the information presented there and consider becoming members. Perhaps then, the miners of this country can continue what they do best, mine coal, for the betterment of all America.
John F. Enyart Ashland, KY
