Health insurance not government’s job

To the editor:

Recently President Barack Obama has called on lawmakers to create a public insurance option. But I’m unconvinced that it is a healthy option for long-term health care reform. A government-run insurance plan would focus on cutting costs instead of serving patients. While everyone would have insurance, no one would have the high quality coverage that most Americans now enjoy.

The public option virtually guarantees that government bureaucrats will be making health-care decisions in the place of physicians and patients. A public option for health-care reform is shortsighted and would do more harm than good.

I think we all agree that our country needs to expand access to affordable health insurance; however, we should not go down a path of the government being the sole provider of health care.

Heath E. Hilyard

Anchorage