HEALTH CARE REFORM
Pawlenty's proposal will come at a cost
The governor wants to allow citizens to buy health insurance from companies in other states, saying it will cost them less. Minnesotans have to keep a few things in mind when they see (presumably) lower premiums.
Minnesota companies have to be nonprofit; companies in other states are out to make a profit. And insurance companies have groups of preferred, or in-network providers, who accept their fee schedules and keep costs down. Don't expect every Minnesota physician to apply (for a fee, of course) to become a provider for every plan based outside of the state.
Using out-of-network providers results in higher deductibles and a higher percentage of out-of-pocket costs for holders of these policies. Bottom line, read the fine print before you become elated at the "lower cost."
ROBERT GJERTSON, FRIDLEY
VIKINGS WANT A STADIUM
Wilf should follow the lead of the L.A. group
The California Legislature has authorized the building of a new 75,000-seat football stadium near Los Angeles that will be built entirely with private money. The search will be on for an NFL team to move there. One such team could be the Vikings.
If that can be done there, why can't (or won't) the Wilf organization do the same thing and recruit some of its rich friends to invest in a stadium here rather than wanting Minnesota taxpayers to foot part of the bill?
It seems to me that would be an easier and quicker solution toward getting a new stadium built here.
BRIAN MARSH, SPRING LAKE PARK
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Hurrah for Nick Coleman and his Oct. 11 column questioning the wisdom of building a new stadium!
Yes, Minnesotans are enjoying the great start by the Vikings, and, yes, Brett Favre has become a "savior" for the team! But do these feelings of glory justify the building of another new stadium and the spending of billions of dollars?
I couldn't help but notice the letter on the opposite page written by Cathy Maas, the Minnetonka food shelf director. She noted the increase in business at our local food shelves. The need to feed families is so great now that a week doesn't goes by without some form of appeal for help! People are hungry and others are struggling to stay in their homes.
With this in mind, how can our governor and the billionaire owner of the Vikings even consider asking for another new stadium?
ROBERTA CHARGO, GOLDEN VALLEY
'BURNED BY A BABY BROKER'
Hibbs' situation is not indicative of adoptions
As adoptive parents we are extremely disappointed in the lack of fair and responsible journalism you displayed in the Oct. 11 article "Burned by a baby broker." While Suann Hibbs' situation may be unfortunate, this is clearly not the norm for international adoptions. The article neglected to cover the fact that in Minnesota most adoptions occur through fair, ethical and established programs.
For example, with the large number of Minnesota adoptions happening each year, why did the Star Tribune fail to feature some of the largest and most established agencies? Minnesota has many international adoptions each year for a reason: agencies such as Lutheran Social Services and Children's Home Society and Family Services, etc.
Anyone who knows anything about adoption would hardly say a woman who runs an adoption agency out of her home with no social work experience is representative of "most" adoptions. This situation of "baby brokering" is clearly not a normal situation. To write of such things as if they were the only way adoptions happen devastates the majority of families who go through the proper (rigorous/ethical) channels to make an adoption complete.
HOLLY AND Dave Willis, Minneapolis
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Adoption is a challenging ethical matter, but one matter in the Oct. 11 article is clear: Suann Hibbs is hoping for the arrival of children who appear to be in the custody of their grandmother. The outcome that Hibbs seems to desire is for those children to be taken from their grandmother's custody in order to fulfill a promise made to Hibbs. From the perspective of the children's interests, this is troubling, to say the least.
It is this insatiable demand for children that, at times, causes international adoption to lose its distinction from its illegal and unethical counterpart, child trafficking. Adoption works when (and only when) a child in need of a parent can be matched with a parent or parents with the desire and ability to raise that child.
It is undoubtedly extremely painful for Hibbs to be dragged through this situation, but she is not the primary character in this story. Three girls who have been pawns in a bureaucratic mess now appear to be in the custody of their grandmother. That sounds like a potentially satisfactory resolution to an awful situation for them.
As for Hibbs and others like her who have been put in this unfortunate mess, I suggest that they channel their frustration toward the agencies and governments involved, but that they remember that the interests of children should always be put first, and that sometimes those interests aren't best served by adoption.
ERIC WHITTINGTON, MINNEAPOLIS
the new delta
It's NWA employees who make it work
I have been a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines for 20 years. The Oct. 11 article "The merged Delta-Northwest: Smooth Flight" made me realize that the flying public doesn't understand that the employees at the airport, in the flight deck and on the airplane are the same employees who have served them for more than 40 years.
I am offended when I hear someone say "Those Delta flight attendants are a cut above." Those are the same Northwest Airlines flight attendants serving them, but with a different uniform.
TERRI HERBST, EDEN PRAIRIE
F-16s to Pakistan?
Profit trumps common sense, national interest
The Oct. 14 Star Tribune announced, "Lockheed Martin unveiled the first of 18 new generation F-16s being made for Pakistan." The deal is only worth a few hundred million dollars, and it must be satisfying to our military and corporate executives to see our foreign aid to the Pakistani people come full circle in this way.
I can only hope each plane is equipped with a remote-controlled detonation device in the event American troops are ever the targets of those planes. A similar device placed inside each Lockheed Martin executive and Air Force chief of staff would serve as guarantee of the wisdom of their choices.
BOB CIERNIA, NORTHFIELD, MINN.
