Premium pricing is out of control, a reader says

I haven't followed the details of the Florida system turnaround deal with Qorval (“Dubin out at Jackson in Miami,” Oct. 19, p. 4), but can someone explain how a 31-year-old chief operating officer from a window and door company in 2008 can become a healthcare restructuring expert in 2009? Qorval must have a great sales staff to obtain a $1.8 million contract with a nonexperienced person leading it. Or Jackson Health System isn't very thorough. Or is this Barry Dubin a genius? Hard to believe a genius would be working for a window and door company. Please explain the logic.

Tom Poulson

Johnstown, Ohio

I agree something must be done (“Pelosi stresses commitment to public option,” Daily Dose, Oct. 15). As a disabled American, I find my choices very slim when it comes to healthcare options available with regard to supplementing Medicare for disabled people not over 65. I received my new insurance rates for 2010. With all that's going on with regard to affordable healthcare and the way private insurance handles things, I was aghast. My insurer doubled the premium and reduced the care provisions! I am shocked, dismayed and personally don't what know what to do next. This is a smack in the face, retaliation for the government trying to fix a huge problem in this country and flat-out greed. How much is enough?

Jeff Serota

Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Wow! Nurses are fighting a state-mandated flu vaccine (“N.Y. nurses to fight flu-shot mandate,” ModernHealthcare.com, Oct. 13). So what happens when the federal government mandates health insurance? We have seat belt and other safety laws precisely because the state mandates vehicle insurance. Ask yourself, what kind of decisions, requirements or laws will the insurance companies (i.e., banks) make about your healthcare decisions? Take care of your own life and reject government-mandated healthcare.

John Shephard

Portland, Ore.

Robert Kolodner has always been a public-sector realistic idealist, welcoming all communication and with time for everyone (“Kolodner joins Open Health Tools,” Oct. 19, p. 12). He did major speeches with grace and ease, while some of his other contributions were almost unapparent. We all owe a lot to him for having moved the nation along as far as we have come, despite many externally imposed restraints.

Zebulon Taintor

Associate clinical dean/professorTouro College of Osteopathic MedicineNew York

Where do these ridiculous prices come from? I'm 64 and disabled. I've had two major surgeries to my back and hip performed in the past two years, and am very satisfied with the care, other than purchases of medical “supplies” I have made. My questions are nonideological: Why do medical items cost so much, beyond any normal rationale? Why do I pay $64 for six 10-cent breathing machine filters? Why does a $4 plastic sitz bath cost $24? Why does an $8 doughnut cushion cost $35? Why does a pair of slipper socks issued in the hospital show up as $17 on the invoice? Medicare and Medicaid are the current big players and payers in this game. Why are these absurd charges tolerated? Who approves them? How many major procedures would the aggregate of these small items fund? If a washcloth costs $20, how inflated is a heart surgery? Who's doing anything about it?

Robert H. Yauger

Mount Pleasant, Pa.

I wanted to write, as I watched Glenn Close and her sister in the public service announcement BringChange2Mind, and I really thought it was wonderful (“It's not an Oscar, but …,” Outliers, Sept. 7, p. 36). Indeed, so many people are living with an undiagnosed mental illness, and because of the stigma, they do not seek help, when it is so needed. I think this PSA is only a positive beginning to helping people become more aware. As a social worker/case manager, I have dealt with numerous clients, and I think every one of them had at least depression, with a few having more severe forms of mental illness, but bipolar going underdiagnosed, and schizophrenia being misunderstood. My hat goes off to all involved with the BringChange2Mind project, and thank you to Ms. Close, her sister, John Mayer, Ron Howard and the list goes on. I hope this is one of many more to come. Thank you again, and keep up the wonderful work.

Erica Farber

Appleton, Wis.

We thought that extant external evaluation mechanisms took this issue seriously (“Measure pushes stricter background checks,” ModernHealthcare.com, Sept. 24). The dual benefit of background checks should also help stem the tide of physical assaults on women healthcare workers, competing for the most assaulted workers in the national workforce. At last report, one-third of the California healthcare workforce has not been properly vetted for criminal backgrounds. Patient populations as well as other stakeholders in earthquake zones face dangers associated with the lack of seismic upgrades in approximately one-half of hospitals and healthcare facilities. Are trustees at risk?

James D. Blair,

President/CEOCenter for HealthCare Emergency ReadinessNashville