Letter: High health care costs need to be addressed

Friday September 28, 2018

Medical treatment should be a right, not a privilege.

Editor:
"Stinks to be them" was the response I received when speaking to acquaintances regarding the high cost of health care. I know individuals who are having difficulty paying for insurance, medical bills or both.


We are living in a society in which health care is not a right, but a privilege.


I was well into my adult years until I realized that people were being treated by the quality of their medical insurance instead of the severity of their medical need. It was a truth I suddenly had to face just a few years ago, but it's a reality many United States citizens have lived with all of their lives.


I have seen beloved community pillars denied the best life-saving medical treatment for their condition because their insurance would not cover it, as well as parents gambling with their own medical coverage to put food on the table for their children. Why do we continue to live in a society in which we have literally put a price tag on human life?


We could easily change that for everyone. On Nov. 6, readers should remember to vote for individuals such as Gov. Tom Wolf, who has helped to expand Medicaid for more than 700,000 Pennsylvanians. Life should never have a price.


Becky Ellis
Reading


High health care costs need to be addressed