LETTERS: Public option, car crash probe and checking plates
Pause that
public option
Two stories should give everyone pause in the rush to create a public option for health insurance.
The first is the government panel's recommendation on mammography. A government-run insurance provider would be guided by these government panels, in this case making a simple, lifesaving test unavailable for women of certain ages. Apparently, lives saved are an insignificant statistic to be weighed against the cost of tests and the potential for a false positive result ["New testing advice," News, Nov. 17].
The second, unrelated, story was that the U.S. Postal Service was running a deficit of nearly $4 billion, a clear indication of the inefficiency of a large government operation ["Post office deficit $3.8 billion," Business, Nov. 17].
Postal deficits may be remedied with more expensive postage and cost-cutting measures. The measures to be taken when the government health care program runs its all-too-certain deficits are much more frightening to contemplate. Surely, there will be other tests and procedures presently saving lives that will be deemed excessive, statistically insignificant or just unnecessary.
John A. Zukowski
ShorehamTime for an inquiry
I was appalled to read that the unlicensed and uninsured driver who struck and killed Thomas Harrington's son, Stephen, never showed-up for his community service sentence ["Family seeks answers," News, Nov. 16].
Even more disturbing is how the situation was handled by criminal justice officials in Suffolk, starting with the Suffolk County Police.
Why, especially at the scene of a fatal accident, didn't officers check to see if this driver - who was charged with possession of marijuana - was under the influence or was driving impaired, as the Harrington family claims? Given his driving record rife with suspensions and violations, didn't police check if he was speeding?
Let's hope that Legis. Brian Beedenbender's resolution ordering an inquiry into this miscarriage of justice yields tangible answers.
Alan Krawitz
FarmingdaleCheck those plates
I am continually frustrated as I walk my dog in Huntington Station and see plates from North Carolina, New Mexico, Virginia and Georgia on vehicles that have been in my neighborhood for years. Some even switch to another plate, such as North Carolina to Georgia after a few years, but never New York plates.
Why? That's a no-brainer. Insurance rates in New York are triple that of other states. But if you live here, that's part of the package.
I have been stopped at checkpoints for the purpose of checking registration and inspections. Why not have them for checking the driver's registration against the address on the driver's license?
Linda C. Schiess
Huntington Station
