E-mail this story Printer-friendly version Web posted Sunday, September 27, 2009 'Public option' for health insurance would force 'realistic' fees Dick Donnelly Evans Editor: I have read a great deal about how poorly managed and uncaring government health care is in responding to folks with physical illness. My personal experience with these programs happened when I lost my wife of 50 years in April 2007. We were visiting in Atlanta when my wife went into cardiac arrest. She was taken to Piedmont Hospital where she was cared for in the cardiac intensive care unit for 24 days until she passed away. Her hospital charges amounted to just under $800,000 and were completely paid for by my two government plans, Medicare and Tricare. Am I an exception to the standard operating procedure of poor management and a bureaucratic, uncaring attitude? Granted that mistakes will happen, but this is not generally the case. I feel that we need a public option to force these runaway health insurance firms to charge realistic fees for coverage and offer coverage to all citizens. When a health insurance company CEO draws an annual salary and perks in the hundreds of millions of dollars, something is wrong. Dick Donnelly Evans Reader Comments Note: Comments are not edited and don't represent the views of The Augusta Chronicle. Please read our full comments policy. To report a post that may be inappropriate, click the icon. Your comment will be attributed to YOUR MESSAGE: You have 1200 characters left. E-mail this story Printer-friendly version