Make health care universal
Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s vote for the GOP’s American Health Care Act, which repeals much of the Affordable Care Act, gravely threatens the health of thousands of his constituents, some of whom are my patients. I have practiced family medicine in Belfast for 35 years, and I see patients every day who are worried about the future of their health care.
The GOP bill would take $880 billion out of Medicaid and another $312 billion out of subsidies that help working families buy private coverage through the health care exchanges and give tax breaks to the wealthy.
Over the past four years, the Affordable Care Act has greatly expanded many of my patients’ opportunities to feel financially secure by obtaining health insurance. Although the ACA has its flaws, the GOP plan would make things much worse. Instead of moving backward, we should move forward from the Affordable Care Act to a Medicare for All plan like the one proposed by Rep. John Conyers, H.R. 676.
You can’t buy fire insurance just when your house is burning down, and you shouldn’t be able to buy health insurance only when you get sick. Health care should be available to all, regardless of one’s ability to pay.
Tim Hughes, M.D.
Belfast
National monuments for everyone
Who visits America’s national monuments? President Donald Trump and Gov. Paul LePage would have you believe they have been created for the benefit of the “elites” by the “elites.” This is not the case; they have been created for everyone.
Those who enjoy national monuments are people like us — folks on fixed incomes, young families, retired couples, outdoorsmen and women, foreign visitors who wish their countries had had the foresight to create such gifts, and people who value the natural world, ancient cultures, and the outdoor experience. Our monuments are affordable and accessible to everyone.
Trump and LePage and their ilk are interested only in wealth and power and what gain these conditions can accrue. They cannot abide natural areas off limits to commercial exploitation and resource extraction. They have no appreciation of the natural world or the fact that there are millions of people who cherish natural beauty and cultural treasures, and rejoice in the knowledge that there are still places where these special gifts remain unmolested.
Should the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument be somehow taken away from the people of Maine and the region, there is one person who will take the blame: LePage.
At our expense, he made a special effort to testify in Washington against the existence of the monument. This treasure is now on the list of larger monuments slated for review. This to a beautiful new monument he has never visited, that affords new opportunities to a struggling region and enjoys wide support throughout the state.
Jerry Stelmok
Atkinson
Increase federal support for Alzheimer’s research
The human and financial toll of Alzheimer’s disease is great. It affects not only the lives of the individuals but the people around them. For me, I had to stop teaching two years ago to give full-time care to my wife, who was officially diagnosed with younger onset Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and the only cause of death without a way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression. Alzheimer’s related costs are expected to soar to $259 billion in 2017, $175 billion of which will come in direct costs to Medicare and Medicaid.
Alzheimer’s research is pointing in the direction that treatment needs to start long before symptoms begin, possibly 10 years or 20 years. It was only through research and funding that new and more effective treatments for diseases such as heart disease, cancer and HIV/AIDS were found. The average long-term cost of treating someone with Alzheimer’s is much greater.
The cost alone of treating and caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is on track to bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid — not to mention private third-party insurance companies.
That is why I urge Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins and Reps. Bruce Poliquin and Chellie Pingree to support a $414 million increase for Alzheimer’s research funding. It may be too late for people like my wife. But it is an opportunity for Maine’s congressional delegation to demonstrate a bipartisan effort to support for the next generation and possibly help save our health care system.
Thomas J. Frisk Sr.
Bangor
Politicians should do their jobs
Some service members died while in the service. Some were injured, physically and mentally. They have earned our gratitude and continued care. Some of us served our time and weren’t hurt. Most of us served not for an ambiguous term “our country” but for the good of the people with whom we share this country.
Veterans also are voters. We vote for people we hope are competent and we think will feel an obligation to care for the happiness and safety of all of us. We veterans, those who were hurt and those who were not, want our elected folks to give all of us, veterans and nonveterans, rich and poor, homeowners and homeless, the help we need to lead happy lives.
For those of us who are financially limited, it includes good health care at an affordable price. Stop lying to us to promote your political goals. Stop looking for every opportunity to criticize the other party. Do right for us. We elected you. You work for us. Do your job, as veterans have done theirs.
Charlie Cameron
Addison
Get rid of Trump
President Donald Trump is neither delusional nor arrogant in his assumption that he won’t get in trouble for breaking laws and violating ethics codes. For Trump to be fired, he has to be convicted of a crime — impeached.
The jury for this is Congress, with a solid Republican majority. They will not impeach the president. Even if such a bizarre turn of events came to pass, the Senate would not uphold it.
The only useful course of action is to either run against a Republican in 2018 or contribute to the campaign fund of someone running against the Republicans in 2018. When the Republicans no longer control the House and the Senate, we can get rid of Trump.
Jim Alciere
East Machias