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Tips for effective Letters to the Editor

1. Be crisp, clear, and concise
2. Be passionate about the issues and candidates you care about
3. Be polite; rudeness and sarcasm don’t come across well
4. Be proud to sign your name; anonymous letters are rarely printed
5. Always include your daytime phone number, as papers will call you to verify that you have written the letter.

Patients Bills of Rights (July 3, 2001)

Letter #1

There is an old saying, "Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it." In watching the coverage of the debate over a patient's bill of rights, I wonder what the unintended consequences will be of this new legislation.

It seems an easy argument to make that we ought to have the right to sue our HMO's for lack of coverage. But while I agree that at no time should a bureaucrat attempt to take the place of a doctor when making a medical decision, I see grave danger in a law which enables trial lawyers the opportunity to sue HMOs and insurance companies at will, with no limit to the amount of damages awarded.

I am not sure that giving trial lawyers the ultimate trump card in making medical decisions is any better than having an HMO make them. It seems like the new Patient's Bill of Rights simply replaces the HMO with Geoffrey Feiger. I feel more secure already.

Letter #2

HMOs and insurance companies need to be held accountable. But who suffers if an HMO is hit with hundreds of lawsuits, many of which may be frivolous. We will be the ones who foot the bill. While the trial lawyers get their 40%, our premiums, deductibles and co-pays will be jacked up to cover the costs. The people who will be hurt most will be the one's who can barely afford coverage now, the working poor and small businesses. When costs go up, more people will be uninsured, while trial lawyers get rich. Is that the kind of reform we want?

Letter #3

The Patient's Bill of Rights sponsored by the likes of Teddy Kennedy out to be called the Trial Lawyer's Bill of Rights. Giving people the right to sue may be necessary in some cases, but creating a system whereby any slick lawyer can bring suit against an HMO or an employer is destined to make trial lawyers rich, nothing more. We need a system that puts doctors and families in charge of patient care, not trial lawyers.

Is it any wonder that the chief co-sponsor of the Kennedy bill is Senator Edwards-a trial lawyer by profession before coming to the Senate? That should cause all of us to stop and question whom this legislation is actually benefiting.

Letter #4

It seems like the Democrats in Washington are thanking their rich trial lawyer buddies for all the campaign contributions they have made over the past few years. The Patient's Bill of Rights they are advocating is designed to open up our health care system to an onslaught of lawsuits and litigation. I am not a huge fan of HMO's or health insurance companies, but I sure don't want to turn over our healthcare system to a bunch of Geoffrey Feiger clones. The only people who will benefit through this new law are the lawyers who will be reaping fat paydays for their time in court. I doubt if the rest of us will see any benefit.