Make careful choices

I know you've heard that old phrase "wish in one hand and sh-- in the other and see which one fills up first." My advice? Don't even think about it! During the past two years, the cost of antibacterial soap and my water bill have sky-rocketed! I'm still reluctant to shake hands with anyone. Oh, and another phrase you probably shouldn't use is: "What else can go wrong?" Believe me, I know.

Joan Rogers

Clarkston

Medicine's rationed now

Many of those opposed to President Obama's efforts to change how health care is delivered in this country should look first at their own coverage. My husband is a state employee in Idaho, and I am covered as his dependent.

First, I can choose to go to any doctor I want. How much of that visit will be covered by insurance varies depending on whether or not that doctor is "in network" or "out of network." So yes, all doctor visits are covered, but some are covered at 95 percent, and some at 35 percent. Right there, my options are currently limited, so I would appreciate greater choice.

Second, although I have excellent insurance now, the policy my husband's employer has chosen for all its employees has a lifetime cap of $1 million per person. In this day of rapidly rising costs, it's easy for a person to go through a million dollars' worth of care. As a cancer patient, I rack up some pretty big bills. But since my treatments are effective, I figure my life is worth that much, and more. But that lifetime cap is rationing at its sneakiest: I'm covered, until I'm not.

Third, the medication I currently take (Herceptin) has increased in cost more than 250 percent in the past four years. In June 2005, a single dose was $2,263. In May of 2009, it was $6,824. Since there's no alternative therapy available to me, I have to use this drug, so I am a captive client. With each dose (once every three weeks), the drug company makes an outrageous profit (because after all this time, shouldn't the cost be going down, or rising rather more slowly? Isn't that how the marketplace works?) and I come closer, faster, to that lifetime cap.

Finally, because I have this pre-existing condition, I can't go elsewhere to purchase health insurance that will cover my current medical needs. I have no choice, and under this current system, I will run out of health insurance before I die. That's obscene: a wealthy country, with amazing technologies and medications that can keep me alive and surprisingly healthy and productive, but only for a limited time.

I fully support the president in his efforts to bring real change to the health care industry - insurance, patient care, medications - in America. I hope and pray for the members of Congress to get their collective act together and move in the right direction, passing legislation that will serve the people of this country.

Joan Jones

Moscow