To the editor: George Skelton, in his March 24 column (“Newsom’s dilemma after providing Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants”), misses the important thing level. Reducing Medi-Cal funding for our state’s undocumented immigrants is not going to lower the prices of medical care. Quite the opposite, it would improve prices — until we need to deport all of them, which might be inhumane and a extreme blow to our state’s economic system.
Individuals get sick and finally require medical care, and somebody will all the time must pay the invoice. With out a common system of financing care, it would all the time be these of us with non-public insurance coverage as we watch our premiums rise to pay for the care given to the uninsured. That care is much costlier as a result of these uncovered people wait till their situations are extreme and find yourself in our emergency rooms and hospital beds as a substitute of having access to common, lower-cost preventive major care by means of public insurance coverage.
Overlaying traditionally underserved and uninsured folks will all the time be costlier initially because the continual situations lots of them have will want time to be introduced beneath management by means of entry to common, inexpensive care. Over time the prices will come down, as there will probably be financial savings from averted emergency visits and hospitalizations. Reducing off take care of the undocumented is penny-wise and pound-foolish coverage.
Dr. Steve Tarzynski, Santa Monica
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To the editor: Skelton proves one doesn’t must be full MAGA to perpetuate one among their greatest lies. He writes:
“ … Democrats whiffed on final 12 months had been inflation — triggered partly by federal authorities overspending … ”
If that had been true, how did President Biden cut back the annual inflation price between 2021 and 2024, given the large federal stimulus and infrastructure packages he championed? Studying your articles to see how the opposite aspect thinks is a waste of time. You’re all alike.
Thomas Gillman, Los Angeles
