Repairing our health-care system
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Regarding the Oct. 16 front-page story "Wellness Incentives Could Create Health-Care Loophole":
Healthy-lifestyle discounts are critical to health reform and must become the norm for health insurance. No one expects to pay the same auto insurance rate regardless of his or her driving record. The auto insurance industry offers discounts for clean driving records, seatbelt use, defensive driving courses and even air bags and anti-lock brakes.
The health insurance industry should reward people who adopt healthy behaviors, such as enrolling in smoking cessation or nutrition classes and participating in physical activities that lead to healthier weight over time. This is a far cry from punishing people for genetics or conditions outside their control. It is about encouraging preventive health care and motivating healthy lifestyle choices.
Sami Bég, Jacksonville, Fla.
The writer is associate medical director of U.S. Preventive Medicine.
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In her Oct. 12 op-ed, "In Need of Urgent Care," Amina Merchant lamented the use of hospitals by homeless people and others who don't need acute care.
Nowhere is this more evident than in emergency departments where people are treated regardless of their ability to pay. Over the past decade, hundreds of emergency departments have closed nationwide, leaving fewer emergency resources for everyone.
But Ms. Merchant is mistaken in her belief that many patients come to ERs for non-emergencies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collects data on emergency department visits, and the latest figures state that only 12 percent of the nation's emergency patients are non-urgent.
