Letters

Times Argus Alan Parent in his letter “Real leadership needed” (The Times Argus, Aug. 6), does not define what he means by “real leadership.” Instead, he hides behind suggesting that what Vermont needs is “balance in Montpelier.” Mr. Parent says this will bring “real, and honest, leadership,” conveniently ignoring how this “balance” he advocates often […]

The Essex Reporter Responding to Dr. Todd Gregory’s thoughtful questions about single-payer health care (“Understanding health care reform” Aug. 7):
Many details, especially regarding financing, do remain to be resolved in the coming legislative session. But the essential question is what Vermonters think our health care system should be and do. Single-payer will assure good, affordable […]

Bennington Banner Lawrence Harrington’s July 25 baseball bat story is pleasant and folksy. (Probably he prefers old-fashioned wooden bats to these newfangled aluminum ones; so do I.) But as an analogy to single-payer health care, his tale strikes out. Mr. Harrington’s more expensive baseball-bat finish was a better product than the cheaper ones that replaced […]

Rutland Herald Rob Roper’s recent commentary “Put small business first” in The Times Argus may have inadvertently given a boost to Act 48’s universal/single payer health care plan. I say inadvertently because the folks at the Ethan Allen Institute are ideologically opposed to any such publicly funded system. For example, one of greatest obstacles facing […]

Rutland Herald Frank Mazur (“Rules limit patient options,” July 25) uses the standard wing-nut welfare resources (in this case, the Koch Brothers-funded Mercatus Center) to offer the standard “savage capitalism” defense of the present system of health care provision: Don’t interfere with “competition” by insisting that health care providers meet the standards set by a […]

Burlington Free Press The letter Red Flag Raised over Health Costs (Letter to the editor, June 17) by Mr. William French left some red flags in its wake concerning the author’s understanding of single-payer. For example, Mr. French states that according to the 2013 United States Census Bureau estimate, there are 626,630 people living in […]

Rutland Herald Responding to Dr. Todd Gregory’s thoughtful questions about single-payer health care: Many details, especially regarding financing, do remain to be resolved in the coming legislative session. But the essential question is what Vermonters think our health care system should be and do. Single-payer will assure good, affordable care for everyone, regardless of age, […]

Times Argus Although not his intention, George Malek’s commentary (“Reallocating health care costs,” July 14) was an excellent case on why we need publicly funded universal care. Mr. Malek, the executive director of the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce, stated, “Some employers offer platinum health care plans, others no plan at all.” This has been […]

Rutland Herald Regarding John McClaughry’s recent negative commentary in the Rutland Herald on Vermont’s Act 48, readers should keep the following in mind: As the ideological guru and founder of the Ethan Allen Institute (EAI) Mr. McClaughry, along other members of EAI, will almost always favor any so-called “free market” business enterprise over a government-run […]

Rutland Herald Twenty thousand dollars. This was the hospital’s “going rate” for the operation I needed to stay alive. I knew the operation. I had already logged three of them for the liver disease (from natural causes) which had nearly killed me that year. I had health insurance through an employer. I lost this during […]