4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ JUNE 28, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exer-
cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press, or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
Congress still missing the point on healthcare problem
begin with?
At $3 trillion a year, the cost
of healthcare in the U.S. is
nearly twice as much as any
other developed country. In
fact, according to Consumer
Reports, if that $3 trillion
healthcare sector was its own
country, it would be the fifth-
largest economy in the world.
And even though we are
outspending other industrial-
ized countries nearly 2-to-1,
the World Health Organization
(WHO) recently ranked the
U.S. a dismal 37th in health-
care systems — with The
Commonwealth Fund naming
us dead last among the top 11
industrialized countries for
overall healthcare dollar-for-
dollar.
While there are many fac-
tors contributing to the astro-
nomical cost of healthcare,
studies by WHO, Consumer
Reports and even health econ-
omists like David Cutler at
While following the contin-
ued debate over the Senate
healthcare proposal being
pressed for a vote as early as
this week by Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell, I
couldn’t help but be struck by
the irony that the same people
haggling over what health
coverage Americans should
have access to are the same
people who are provided com-
plete health coverage by tax-
payer dollars.
It’s no wonder that the real
question that members of
Congress should be asking has
yet to be raised: Why is
healthcare so expensive to
Harvard University agree that
administration and pharma-
ceutical are the two driving
forces behind skyrocketing
healthcare costs.
On average, 25 percent of
healthcare dollars go to cover
Because more and more,
single insurers can’t cover the
rising costs of medical proce-
dures and drug prescriptions,
particularly at a time when the
median age in America is 40.
In most countries, govern-
From the Editor’s Desk
N ED H ICKSON
administrative fees. In an
interview on the PBS News
Hour, Cutler gave the example
of Duke University Hospital,
where billing clerks outnum-
ber hospital beds.
The reason?
Billing specialists are need-
ed to determine how to bill the
varying requirements of multi-
ple insurers.
Why the need for multiple
insurers?
ment negotiates drug prices
with drug makers, which vir-
tually guarantees lower prices.
However, when Congress cre-
ated Medicare Part D, it
specifically denied Medicare
the right to negotiate drug
prices.
At the same time, the
Veterans Administration and
Medicaid aren’t under the
same restriction and pay the
lowest drug prices.
According
to
the
Congressional Budget Office,
if Medicare Part D recipients
received the same discount as
Medicaid recipients, the feder-
al government would save
$116 billion over the next 10
years.
Imagine
the
money
American taxpayers would
save if those on Medicare
could benefit from the same
Medicaid-negotiated
drug
prices?
One has to wonder why
Congress itself is so opposed
to weighing in on controlling
the cost of prescription drugs
and healthcare as a whole, and
what role those who benefit
most from that $3 trillion
industry play in fueling and
supporting that opposition.
As taxpayers, we are
America’s shareholders —
and Congress is our board of
directors. It’s time we ask why
the Board of America, Inc.,
isn’t pursuing a more cost-
effective healthcare plan that
will guarantee a better return
on our investment, which in
this case literally puts lives at
risk physically and financially.
Rather than bickering over
ways to pay for the ridiculous-
ly high costs of healthcare and
prescription drugs, members
of Congress — Democrats and
Republicans alike — need to
put the interests of average
Americans ahead of special
interests groups and address
the issue of controlling those
costs in the first place.
Establishing a plan that
makes good healthcare afford-
able to all Americans isn’t
about how to pay more; it’s
about how to pay less.
Write Siuslaw News editor Ned
Hickson at nhickson@thesiuslaw
news.com or P.O. Box 10,
Florence, Ore. 97439.
LETTERS
T OXIC RHETORIC LEADS TO
REAL VIOLENCE
The editor of Siuslaw News, Ned Hickson,
is guilty of promoting toxic rhetoric. It is
almost impossible to get a right-side opinion
printed.
They are few and far between.
Since President Donald Trump got more
votes than Hillary in Florence, and for that
matter most of the state, the Siuslaw News
should print more right-side opinions than
left-side.
This is not the case. When you allow the
rabid left to dominate, you are asking for
trouble.
Even the so-called cartoons that are printed
are hate-filled and certainly not even some-
what amusing political satire.
The editor needs to take a breath and
remember he is talking about the President of
the U.S.A.
—Martin Cable
Dunes City
L ETTERS TO THE
E DITOR P OLICY
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to
the editor as part of a community discus-
sion of issues on the local, state and
national level.
Emailed
letters
are
preferred.
Handwritten or typed letters must be
signed. All letters need to include full
name, address and phone number; only
name and city will be printed. Letters
should be limited to about 300 words.
Letters are subject to editing for length,
grammar and clarity. Publication of any
letter is not guaranteed and depends on
space available and the volume of letters
received.
Libelous, argumentative and anony-
mous letters or poetry, or letters from out-
side our readership area will not be pub-
lished.
Send letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
USPS# 497-660
A COMMUNITY WITH HEART OF GOLD
The turnout for the Gifts of the Heart Silent
Auction Fundraiser for Malakai Kirk on June
10 was beyond what we could have imagined.
I can’t give enough thanks to the wonderful
steering committee who met for a month of
Tuesdays to put this event together. In addition,
I’d like to share my appreciation and thank all
the wonderful donors for their generous dona-
tions along with our fabulous community
which attended this event in order to help a
kind and compasionate young boy in need of a
bone marrow transplant.
My heart fills with gratitude when I think of
the outpouring of love and positive energy our
community has shared with my family.
Oregon Group Publisher (541) 265 8571
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WHERE TO WRITE
Susan Gutierrez
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Jeremy Gentry
—Debbie Pasternak
Florence
L ACK OF FORESIGHT COULD
BE DISASTEROUS
Our political leaders’ decision to attack Iraq
in 2003 might have seemed like a good idea at
the time, but little, if any, attention was paid to
the consequences of regime change after the
deed was done.
The GOP rollout of its plan to replace
Obamacare echoes the same disastrous lack of
foresight unless the goal is for potentially mil-
lions of people to lose their insurance.
When that happens, I don’t see how they
think voters will back them in future elections.
The disarray of an unfair healthcare system
can only lead to a diminished Republican Party.
At the same time, for me it only affirms the
need of a ballot measure for Health Care for All
Oregon that invites all Oregonians to choose a
greatly expanded equitable Medicare for all its
citizens.
— Stuart Henderson
Florence
Copyright 2017 © Siuslaw News
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National
Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore.
Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax
541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com.
James Rand
Jenna Bartlett
Ned Hickson
Erik Chalhoub
Again, to all who participated, I can’t thank
you enough.
Florence is indeed a community with a heart
of gold.
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
( Dist. 9 )
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio ( 4 th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan ( Dist. 5 )
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us