Letter: Government's role in health care should be minor one (Oct. 14)

CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES (Letters), 10/14/2009 by Jeff Limón - Thank you, Robert G. Gourley, for your Oct. 8 letter, "Forget hoopla to date, calm down, and let's reform health care." ∴ The issue does not deal with whether or not health care should be reformed. The matter before us is the precise nature of that reform. To me, the crux of the biscuit is whether or not government should increase or decrease its involvement in the health care system. ∴ There are places, such as Pendleton, where if you are a Medicare patient, you may have to drive to as far as Walla Walla, Wash., to find a doctor that accepts Medicare. So, the notion of expanding the government's role in health care seems like "OK, let's take a system that doesn't work, and make it bigger!"

As it pertains to "cooler heads prevailing":

It's difficult to take that statement seriously, especially given President Obama's recent passing out of lab coats to those who purported themselves to be doctors on the White House lawn. Hey, I have a lab coat: Can I pass myself off as a doctor?

Several years ago, an engineer friend of mine decided that he didn't like engineering anymore. He had the choice to become either a doctor, or a lawyer. However, the threat of a government-run health care system dissuaded him from medical school. Instead, he went to law school. (He's brilliant, and completed a three-year program in two years.)

Now, you tell me: Does the country need one more lawyer, or one more doctor?

Jeff Limon, Corvallis