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| Jul 29, 2010 - 06:45 PM |
Queen City News - Helena's FREE Weekly Newspaper |
Helena, Montana |
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To the Editor:
Everyone loves kids. That’s how proponents sold the CHIP extension bill of goods and how they are painting the picture of ogre Republicans fighting it. Montanans thought they voted for a health-care program for low-income uninsured children in a state with a surplus, but got instead a program for families with incomes $65-70,000 in an economically troubled Montana.
Within a week after Governor Schweitzer was elected, our alleged $1-billion surplus was reduced by $700 million, with the remainder dwindling since then. Another deception was the cost to taxpayers, with realistic estimates five times theirs, or $100 million per year. The only way to pay for this extension is to take money from somewhere else such as K-12 education.
I am a physician with five children and six grandchildren. When children get sick, 99.9 percent of the time they need fluids, rest and loving comfort. They DON’T need to see a doctor. At medical offices, they will be exposed to microorganisms, many will be put on unnecessary antibiotics, and it is stressful to the child to be poked and prodded. Because most can’t afford to go to doctors, they give their children the love, rest and fluids they need, and, not surprisingly, the children get better. This is what parents have always done, and the children are better for it.
Furthermore, when there are entitlement programs with a low co-pay for doctor’s visits, patients go to doctors more often than necessary. Medical offices don’t want to see these people because the payment is so low they would go out of business if they saw too many of them.
Understand, truly underprivileged children are already covered under the CHIPS program. Montana cannot afford to extend that coverage to the middle class.
Annie Bukacek, M.D.
Kalispell
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The Queen City News is published every Wednesday in Helena, MT, by Mossback Media, LLC.
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