I cannot believe we are in a position to think that our government will be making decisions regarding our health care options. Just last week I heard Obama say that sometimes it might be better to take pain pills rather than having a surgery during his ABC special . This will be the case when it comes to our elderly. You hear reports all the time about how awful the conditions are at Walter Reed Medical Center. Just a few days ago there was a report about several Veterans possibly getting infected with HIV due to dirty equipment in Murfreesboro at the Veterans Hospital there. These are just a couple of examples of government healthcare. Is this what people want? I can only speak for myself and I can say NO. I do not want anyone other than my doctor, myself, or my close family to make my medical decisions.

Obama say that millions of uninsured will be covered in his plan and the overall costs will be less than they are today. This is simply untrue. Let's say you are having a small dinner for 5 of your closests friends with a budget of $100. This breaks down to $16.66 per person since you will be there as well. Then at the last minute you learn that 9 friends are going to show up. Now you will only have $10 per person to spend. How can you add more people and make overall costs go down? The only answer is to reduce services. In this example you will be forced to only spend $10 per person rather than $16.66. This is what will happen with your healthcare.

You will have someone that doesn't even know you tell your doctor what will and what will not be paid for by the government. For the elderly this will be horrible. For example, they will calculate what benefit there will be for a knee replacement. If you are young you might be okay. If you are 70 years old, you probably will have bad knees until you die.

I heard Obama say today to not let critics scare you and make you not go with his plan. I have a better idea, don't let Obama scare you into his plan. If someone wants free healthcare go get a job. Every job I have ever had offers free healthcare to the employee only. If you add a dependent or spouse you will pay the difference but at a minimal cost to you. Plus as of today these costs are deducted from your pay pre tax.

Also if you think the cost of government healthcare will be free you are mistaken. How does the government pay for anything it does? The answer is taxes. If you don't work and don't pay taxes that might not sound too bad. If you do work and still don't pay taxes that might not be too bad. But I am sure your boss pays taxes and when they look to make up for the increased tax they might look to cut your job.

Does something have to be done about healthcare expenses? Sure. How about treating health insurance like homeowner's or car insurance. You pay for regular visits as your go and use your insurance for unexpected needs. You cannot use your car insurance card for an oil change, brake change or anything like that. Why are we able to use our healthcare card for an annual checkup? The answer is that we shouldn't.

Come on people wake up. If all of this passes and becomes law you will be sorry. Haven't you heard the phrase, "If it sounds too good to be true then it isn't." That is the case with government healthcare.

Finally, if you want free healthcare, go live in Cuba and enjoy the rest of your life in poverty, real poverty with no cell phone, no tv, probably not even a microwave.

Jimmy Gray

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Mr. Gray,

I could be wrong, but based on your letter, it seems to me that you have not read Obama's plan. I have and it does not - I repeat not - call for government controlled heath care. You should take a look at it. The insurance and drug companies are the ones who benefit from your misunderstanding and fear of the plan. If the government were to offer a low cost insurance option, in addition to the same private options we all now have, the competition will be good for the industry.

When I was a conservative, I also used to believe government is the enemy and that private industry was the savior. Socialists believe the exact opposite. But now I'm in the middle: I believe both can be good or bad and having both is a good check and balance. I've never heard anyone complain that we can send an overnight package using FedEx or the USPS or that we can fly with Continental Airlines or take an Amtrak train.

You talk about having free health care by having a job. That's not health care; that's insurance. You still pay deductibles, certain percentages for procedures and for any health care cost that the insurance company refuses to cover. That's far from free. And that's fine, as long as these costs don't bankrupt you or as long as long as the company agrees to cover the care you need.

Insurance companies need to make money. But when they rake in billions while telling your doctor not to order an MRI when he can't find the source of your severe chronic back pain after an injury, something's terribly wrong.

You want choices and I agree with you 100%. But you're forgetting that insurance companies limit your choices and keep your doctors on tight leashes in order to protect their massive profits. I realized this after I fought a long, hard battle with an HMO over an illness that almost killed my mother while they refused to authorize tests her doctor ordered.

I talked with a friend who happens to be an attorney for the insurance industry and she told me things about how and why they refuse coverage that made my blood boil. They are highly motivated to refuse coverage and reward doctors for refusing tests and procedures. You pay them a premium and they do everything in their power not to pay it back in claims when you need it.

That's why I'm all for another choice. If this plan can create another insurance option that doesn't care more about lining their pockets while refusing to cover my family, I'm all for it. The competition it will create alone is worth it. The President isn't trying to create a system that will make your decisions for you. He's trying to give you another option. You will still be able to choose. If you don't want his option, you won't have to take it. But don't be surprised if the fact that it's out there drives your costs down.

John Stegall
Quincy, MA (formerly of Chattanooga)