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Letter

Waiting for Real Health Care Reform

Senators Patty Murray and Lamar Alexander during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in Washington last month.Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Deal by Senators Seeks to Restore Health Subsidies” (front page, Oct. 18):

The fledgling bipartisan deal reached by two senators — if it is passed by the House and the Senate — is a continuation of the paralysis and dysfunction in Washington, better known as “kicking the can down the road.” Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will have bought enough time to see themselves through the midterm elections next year, and nothing else.

The American people — whether Democrats or Republicans — are still waiting for a health care system that is built on common sense and fairness. So far, neither Obamacare nor any of the failed Republican proposals have addressed the central issue: the cost of health care in the United States relative to other rich countries. That, of course, will entail taking on the health insurance-Big Pharma-hospital lobby.

The president should force the issue of health care reform toward a bipartisan solution that is stripped of the needs of the lobbyists and addresses the concerns of the American people.

IRA SOHN
UPPER MONTCLAIR, N.J.

The writer is a professor of economics and finance at Montclair State University.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 26 of the New York edition with the headline: Real Health Care Reform. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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