FIXING HEALTH CARE
A solution that is working right here
The latest data on the increasing burden of medical care costs on American families is indeed no surprise ("Medical care fees shift to workers," May 19). The study author's speculation that the employee burden "may be reaching a breaking point" is right on the mark. But for those without access to employer-sponsored health insurance, that breaking point has long been breached.
While we've been waiting for a national solution, Minneapolis-St Paul has developed a unique community-hospital partnership that, for the last 15 years, has provided primary and preventive health care services to those individuals who don't qualify for government aid, but don't make enough to afford coverage on their own (defined as income up to 275 percent of federal poverty guidelines).
Funded mainly via grants and funding commitments from local hospitals and managed-care organizations, this model provides substantial rate of return via utilization of preventive care and early intervention in place of uncompensated emergency room visits long after less costly intervention is possible.
More important, it provides education around the efficient use of preventive care for thousands of Twin Cities residents each year. And when the focus is on prevention, health care spending falls as we all live healthier lives.
DEBRA HOLMGREN, ST. PAUL;
PRESIDENT, PORTICO HEALTHNET
DANIEL HAUSER
Think the treatment is bad, try the disease
According to the May 19 editorial, the family of Daniel Hauser "believes that the injection of chemotherapy ... amounts to an assault upon his body, and torture when it occurs over a long period of time."
This sure sounds like what cancer (without any treatment) usually does to a person.
BOB THOMSON, EDINA
•••
How ironic that as health care is being cut by the state, a judge is mandating that a farm family authorize extensive cancer treatment for a child.
Looks like health care is more than a right. It's a command.
MARY K. LUND, MINNETONKA
