Mailbag:

Who pays for health care? The opponents of universal health care cite the cost of the proposed plans. How can we pay for the health care?

Very simple, the costs are less. Under the current system, the uninsured avoid going to the doctor until the problem becomes an emergency costing tens of thousands of dollars. The person needing the care cannot afford to pay the bill, so they skip out or declare bankruptcy. Who pays? The rest of us. Early care would have significantly reduced the cost of care, in many cases to less than $100. We cannot afford not to provide universal health care.

Who rations the care? Today, the health insurance companies ration care with the incentive to reduce costs, thereby increasing profits. Our heath is not important, but the company profits are the bottom line.

Many say that Washington would do a worse job. I would rather have a government agency do the rationing. That agency is subject to political pressure we put on our representatives. The rationing would be based on our priorities, not the insurance company’s bottom line.

DARRELL NEFT

Costa Mesa

Government care not people’s choice

I have some questions for Joseph N. Bell regarding his rant about health-care reform (“The noise and the fury,” The Bell Curve, Thursday). If this reform is such a great idea, why is it dropping like a rock in the polls? This so-called misinformation is not being spread by the GOP. This is a broad-based revolt from independents, conservatives and centrists of both parties.

The White House handing off this huge and expensive task to the likes of Pelosi and Reid to craft a government plan doesn’t pass the smell test. Americans simply do not want to mortgage our future with more massive debt which will drive future inflation and weaken the dollar even more.

You, Bell, can come up with all the liberal-speak you want, but we didn’t bargain for this kind of change. If the president and Congress can’t explain it, we won’t buy it. As I see it, the more Democratic leaders keep talking, the Republicans need not say anything. I look forward to more of your inspiring columns.

TERRY JOHNSTON

Newport Beach