4A • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • NOVEMBER 21, 2018
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HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
LETTERS
Think of the
big picture
I’m confused: I thought
Oregonians love nature and
the environment but why is
everyone clearcutting their
land so much?
I hear that lumber, partic-
ularly in Asian markets, is
fetching a pretty high price
right now. But what about
the animals, plants and
trees?
What about the atmo-
sphere your grandchildren
will be breathing in?
It is pretty apparent now
that we don't live in a bub-
ble anymore. Clearcuts play
a direct and indirect role to
the forest fi re and climate
change crisis we have going
now. Not only that, but the
lack of carbon storage from
all the trees being gone in
one swoop tips the scale of
carbon sequestration away
out of our favor.
Th e problems around
short-term gain at long-
term expense are growing
worse. It may not look it, but
it aff ects job security in the
long run too.
Not much to do/ work
on if the trees keep burning
down. I wish people would
think of the big picture at
the same time they think of
immediate needs.
—Kerstin Britz
Cottage Grove
Congress still asking wrong healthcare question
Ned Hickson
While watching the many
debates over healthcare
in our nation’s capitol, I
couldn’t help but be
struck by the irony of
knowing that the same
people haggling over
what health coverage
Americans should have
access to are the very
same people who have
complete coverage paid for
by taxpayer 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
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, if that $3
trillion healthcare sector was
its own country, it would be
the fi ft h-largest economy
in the world according to
Consumer Reports.
And even though we
are outspending other
industrialized
countries
nearly 2-to-1, the World
Health
Organization
(WHO) recently ranked
the U.S. a dismal 37th in
healthcare systems — with
Th e Commonwealth Fund
naming us dead last among
the top 11 industrialized
countries
for
overall
healthcare dollar-for-dollar.
In preparing this editorial,
I spent time researching the
reasons behind healthcare’s
astronomical costs in this
country.
While there are many
factors, from defensive
medicine practices for
News Hour, Cutler gave the
example of Duke University
Hospital, which has 1,300
billing clerks and only 900
beds.
Th e reason?
Billing specialists are
needed
to
determine
how to bill the varying
requirements of multiple
insurers.
Why the need for multiple
insurers?
Because more and more,
single insurers can’t cover
the rising costs of medical
From the Managing Editor’s Desk
— Ned Hickson, Th e Cottage Grove Sentinel
avoiding lawsuits, to the
“branding” of healthcare
providers similar to designer
clothing (the bigger the
name, the more money they
can demand from insurance
companies), the same two
cost factors rise to the top of
the list:
Administrative costs.
Drug costs.
WHO studies, Consumer
Reports and even health
economists like David
Cutler at Harvard University
agree that those two factors
are the driving forces behind
skyrocketing
healthcare
costs.
On average, 25 percent
of healthcare dollars go to
cover administrative fees.
In an interview on the PBS
procedures
and
drug
prescriptions, particularly at
a time when the median age
in America is 40.
In
most
countries,
government
negotiates
drug prices with drug
makers, which virtually
guarantees lower prices.
However, when Congress
created Medicare Part D, it
specifi cally 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 Congress’s
own Budget Offi ce, if
Medicare Part D recipients
received the same discount
as Medicaid recipients, the
federal government would
save $116 billion over the
next 10 years.
Imagine
the
money
American taxpayers would
save if those on Medicare
could benefi t from the same
Medicaid-negotiated drug
prices?
One has to wonder why
Congress is so opposed to
weighing in on controlling
the cost of prescription
drugs and healthcare as a
whole, and what — if any —
role those who benefi t most
from that $3 trillion
industry play in that
decision.
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-
eff ective healthcare plan
that will guarantee a better
return on our investment,
which in this case literally
puts lives at stake physically
and fi nancially.
Rather than bickering
over ways to pay for
the astronomical costs
associated with healthcare
and prescription drugs,
Congress needs to slow
down and address the issue
of controlling those costs in
the fi rst place.
Establishing
aff ordable
healthcare isn’t about how
to pay more but about how
to pay less.
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
C ottage G rove
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