The Problem of Health-Care Costs
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Regarding Robert J. Samuelson's Jan. 12 op-ed column, "Obama's Health-Care Headache":
I had direct experience of the disconnect in health-care costs when my 84-year-old mother hit her head in California in 2006 and was rushed to the emergency room. Tragically, she never regained consciousness and died the same day in the intensive-care unit.
Her care consisted of ambulance service, paramedic care, a CAT scan, other evaluation and six hours in the ICU with a simple, pain-relieving drip and the gentle, non-invasive attention of the staff. Six months later, I received the Medicare itemization report. Her 11 hours of care had cost $48,000 and had been completely paid for by the government.
This was no elective or privileged service, just the effective delivery of emergency care that I would expect anyone, rich or poor, to receive in an industrialized nation. Could her care really have cost that much? What if she hadn't been covered by Medicare or private health insurance?
ANNE DANIEL
Washington
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Robert J. Samuelson's Jan. 12 column exemplified a "no gain without lots of pain" theory to controlling health-care costs.
