Socialized medicine is the panacea

Excellent series on the high cost of health care by William Scanlon published last week in the Glenwood Springs Post Independent and The Aspen Times.

The way I see it, nationally, health care costs are high because the industry is dominated by capitalistic predators, i.e., health and malpractice insurance companies, malpractice lawyers, pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies, and even some hospitals and doctors. Locally, that situation is exasperated by few choices for insurance companies, hospitals or doctors, physically active residents and visitors who do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid and often get injured, overuse of imaging procedures, hospitals that try to be five-star hotels and the fact that everything is more expensive in the Roaring Fork Valley.

The solution, or the “silver bullet,” as Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock put it, is obvious: complete coverage for all. Or, if you will, socialized medicine.

Fred Malo Jr.

Carbondale