GUNS: Gun rights vs. the big 3
The Second Amendment in its rightful content back in 1791 will always remain intact, but how about the big 3: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid? The fiscal cliff has passed. Now the big...
View ArticleMEDICAID: Expansion vital in fight against cancer
As Washington state voters, we can be proud of our legislators in Olympia for their hard work and dedication to the task of setting up our Health Care Exchange. As a result of their diligence, our...
View ArticleMEDICAID: Expansion sorely needed
I am a cancer survivor, and I believe that Washington state should expand Medicaid coverage. Our state currently covers only elderly and non-disabled adults who are below 70 percent of the federal...
View ArticleECONOMY: Congress must avoid sequestration
I appreciate Congress’ action on Jan. 1 that enabled legislation to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.” However, I am also disappointed in Congress for “kicking the can down the road” in dealing with...
View ArticleDEFICIT: Krugman oblivious to debt’s dangers
Paul Krugman’s column (TNT, 3-14) about government spending and deficits is ripe with questionable assertions. Krugman tosses numbers around and goes into great detail about yearly deficits, yet he...
View ArticleHEALTH CARE: Cuts threaten health interventions
I am a registered nurse working in Pierce County and also a student at the University of Washington Tacoma. I recently learned about the tremendous Medicaid cuts facing the Tacoma-Pierce County Health...
View ArticleHEALTH: Free care is not the answer
Re: “Where’s care and compassion?” (letter, 3-20). The writer, a physician, sees the need for “universal free medical care.” Universal health insurance is not the answer to every problem. And universal...
View ArticleBUDGET: Medicaid money can help low-income
For more than 30 years, my wife and I and a loyal team of workers have farmed 20-plus acres along the Puyallup River. Our fields, with the first blooms of spring peeking into view, seem a long way from...
View ArticleMEDICAID: Co-payments aren’t a good answer
Re: “School funding without taxes sacrifices the poor” (editorial, 4-25). In an otherwise excellent editorial about the no-new-taxes Senate’s failure to fund programs for our most vulnerable, The News...
View ArticleBUDGET: Restoring dental coverage is win-win
Re: “Special session could drag on to the bitter end” (TNT, 5-12). The state legislature has many tough decisions to make during its special session now underway. But some decisions should be easy from...
View ArticleHEALTH: Medicaid plan should be in the exchange
We are very disappointed that none of the Medicaid health plans were approved by the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner to participate in the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. The OIC outcome...
View ArticleELECTION: Nathan Schlicher will have more impact
For voters who care about economic development in the 26th Legislative District, consider which candidate will be more effective gaining support for programs from Congressman Derek Kilmer and the Obama...
View ArticleHEALTH CARE: Equal access for all is needed
Kudos to Washington state for expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The act expresses two meaningful values: an ethic of care by the state toward its residents, and health care as a human...
View ArticleHEALTH CARE: Thanks, but no thanks
Gov. Jay Inslee, Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and Congressman Adam Smith all have several things in common. One glaring commonality is that all have health care plans for themselves, their...
View ArticlePOVERTY: What’s the incentive to work?
A hundred years ago, people who lived in poverty lived in wretched conditions, often without sufficient food, shelter and medical care. Today, those who cannot or will not work live about as...
View ArticleMEDICAID: Care facilities need higher reimbursement
My wife and I operate a long-term care facility in Puyallup. We have 18 full- and part-time employees to serve 50 residents, 40 percent of whom are long-term mentally ill. We have been in business...
View ArticleDRUGS: Opioids pushed on nursing home patients
I am an internal medicine physician who works in skilled nursing facilities and also treat opioid addicted/dependent patients in private practice. I believe one critical issue in nursing homes is that...
View ArticleACA: Obamacare is a $1.5 trillon budget buster
The ongoing partisan back and forth over how many or few are signing up for Obamacare seems to have overshadowed the spiraling cost of this financial fiasco. The February 2014 Congressional Budget...
View ArticleHEALTH CARE: Hold providers accountable
I’d like to share components of House Bill 1519 in an effort to encourage public support and awareness of this legislation. The Health Care & Wellness Committee passed House Bill 1519 in April...
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