Reality on Health-Care Needs
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As a retired special education teacher, I find myself defending the insurance industry (not my usual stance) regarding the rejection of payments for therapies, services, etc., that one Montgomery County couple described in the Sept. 27 front-page article "On a Street in Gaithersburg, Health-Care Anxiety Abounds." Parents sometimes seek therapies that have not been proved sound. Why should insurance companies pay for services that have not been shown to be effective by rigorous scientific studies?
When appropriate, the public schools provide occupational, speech/language and physical therapies. This is part of a free and appropriate public education for children who are eligible for special education services.
Furthermore, many children with disabilities need the socialization opportunities that public schools offer. The social skills that can be taught in this setting are extremely valuable, particularly as those students get older and become more independent. Parents who opt for public schools over home schooling also might have a better chance of finding work and, one hopes, health insurance coverage.
ROBERTA G. COHEN
Rockville
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Thanks to Brigid Schulte for writing about the health-care needs of real people. I think the stories from Linden Hall Lane could be replicated on any street, in any town or city in this country. One can only hope that members of Congress pay attention to what is going on with the average family and begin to think about what we need and not about what the health-care industry needs.
DOROTHY M. MILLER
Washington
