I just read the letter from Kathy Jo Keever (The Capital, July 17), and feel that either Keever doesn’t understand the marketplace, or she is being disingenuous.
She states that women will have “access to birth control and cancer screening at no cost” and “women will gain access to birth control without a co-pay.” At first glance, that’s fantastic – I definitely believe in birth control, and would dearly love to see cancer totally eradicated – but at no cost? That really is fantasy.
Those who provide the services – nurses, technicians, doctors, office staff, etc. – are being paid, the machines with which the testing is done are expensive, and there is any number of supplies involved. None of this is free
Taxpayers will pay. I’m not saying that I don’t want these services; everyone throughout the country should get the medical attention he or she needs, especially preventive care. But please don’t even think that there’s no cost for these services.
If the United States had a balanced budget and the president and Congress could agree on cutting other costs to pay for health care, then I would be writing lyrically happy letters in praise. Unfortunately, the U.S. is in hock to our eyeballs to China, and we can’t really pay for so much as a tongue depressor. It’s not that I don’t want people to have health care, it’s just that I want what we can actually pay for.
There’s a huge cost to this mis-named “affordable” health care law, one which our grandchildren will be paying for, long after we’re gone.
PAMELA BEAUDETTE MILLER
Annapolis
