Reader misunderstands health care bill
By BRANDON SACK | Apr. 19, 2010Alligator reader Ann Sanchez is an idiot. First, the health care bill does not provide blanket health care for illegal immigrants, as they are treated much as before. Yes, some people will pay more in taxes, but we will pay less in health care costs as a whole due to more preventative care. Malpractice reform would save about $54 billion over 10 years, which is significant but not huge considering we spend more than $2 trillion on health care each year. There is nothing in the bill stating that all specialties have to be paid the same. This is not even true in the U.K., where they have real socialized medicine. Unlike Sanchez claims, it is not common knowledge that doctors leave medical school with half a million dollars in debt because they leave with an average of $156,000, which is still a big number, but there are few professions where you are guaranteed to make six figures for the rest of your life. And finally, medical residents do not make $30,000 per year; they usually make upwards of $45,000 per year — 50 percent more than $30,000, according to my rough math. They’re not living the high life, but it’s not bad considering the significant pay raise at the end of their 3- to 7-year residency. It’s OK to have opinions and to print those opinions, but it’s just a waste of ink if the people expressing those views refuse to read books or use the Internet, and instead they base their elementary opinions on e-mails forwarded by grandma.
