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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>To The Republican:</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>It was my understanding that news articles and entertainment reviews were
not supposed to include political editorial. The Republican proved me wrong
when, in the space of two days it took a stand against access to health care for
all and by default protected the mammoth insurance companies who block true
health care reform. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>First, in the article “Health care law reaches key marker”, Steve LeBlanc
called a “single government-funded (health) program” a “politically nuclear
option”, which conveyed to me that a Canadian-type health care system would
incinerate us all.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>Then, planning to go to Michael Moore’s “Sicko”, I turned to the spot
movie reviews and found that the film which had enjoyed the second-most
successful opening of any documentary in this country’s history had received
only 2 stars because the reviewer called it “simplistic” and Moore “annoying”
for “rising up as a folk hero”. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>I am a doctor who every day takes care of many people in <?xml:namespace
prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Springfield</st1:City></st1:place> without medical
insurance and with totally inadequate insurance. I spend much of my time trying
to figure out how sick people can get the care that they need but from which
they are barred because of poverty and economic barriers. It is very, very
complicated, and when I went to see “Sicko” I found that the rendition of the
problem was the best and at the same time most poignant and humorous that I had
ever seen. And if the public audience I shared the viewing with was “annoyed” by
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:City>’s pleading
for decent social and medical services to which our tax dollars should entitle
us, their spontaneous applause at the end of “Sicko” sure didn’t indicate
it.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>“Sicko” advocates for a single payor system, like our successful
Medicare, but applied to all persons in this country. Similar to the systems of
almost all other countries in the western world, as <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Moore</st1:City></st1:place> points out. It would
be cheaper, easier to use, and more effective as shown by study after public
health study. Such a system would only be a “nuclear option” to the CEOs of
pharmaceutical, hospital supply and insurance companies and to the politicians
whose pockets they line. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>A single-payor system would be a salvation to many of my patients who are
either denied medical care due to its outrageous cost or go bankrupt paying
bills.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>The Republican needs to re-examine its editorial policies – not just on
the editorial page – and enter into honest debate about how to fix our very sick
health care system. As <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Moore</st1:City></st1:place> so graphically demonstrates, free
government-run health care is the obvious answer.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>Sincerely,</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>Marty Nathan MD</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Brightwood</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Health</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType>, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Springfield</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">MA</st1:State></st1:place></FONT></FONT></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>