Letters to the editor: Christmas gifts, education, health care, Medicare, Trump, polls

Get ‘woke’ for Christmas

If this pandemic will ever be over, the more vulnerable (read poorest) will need help. I am thinking of our children. I am afraid they will be forgotten in the strife post-election. They’re what we call nonpartisan, disenfranchised works. I cannot give to everyone who needs it, so I am giving a Christmas gift to a school here in Boise that really needs it. If you give someone an expensive gift and receive one in return, that’s a swap. If you have no expectations of any kind of reimbursement, not even a smile or a thank you, that is a gift.

Maybe you don’t believe the Christmas story, the babe in the manger, wise men bearing gifts, the hope of the world; that’s okay, “it’s the thought that counts.” So do this and some kid will love you - if you need it, Jesus will love you, too, because, well, you know, the “suffer the children” thing and “doing the least unto my brethren you have done unto me.” Get “woke” for Christmas this year

James Faul, Boise

Education in Idaho

It’s no secret that Idaho ranks very poorly in early childhood education — 42nd in the nation, to be exact. Add a pandemic into the mix, and it’s become so much harder for Idahoan families to access quality education for their littles.

Let’s put aside the emotional toll that the pandemic has taken on parents. We will ignore the financial strain it has put on parents who became unemployed when Idaho’s unemployment shot up from 2.5% to 11.8%. The changes to how child care and early education programs operate in order to maintain social distancing and safety protocols have severely hurt the average Idahoan parent’s ability to find quality care for their children.

As frustrating as this time is for our parents, I know educators are just as unhappy. I want to thank early learning professionals who have dedicated their careers to helping more children start kindergarten ready to learn, those who have lost their small business, or who have been laid off during the pandemic, and those who continue to provide this essential service to kids and families during this trying time.

Mackenzie Bannister, Caldwell

Health care

In his Nov. 5 letter to the editor, Douglas O’Coyne, Jr. describes how much it would reduce health care costs if the public had access to the negotiated and discounted rates hospitals and pharmaceutical companies charge insurance companies. He is absolutely correct and explains why this has been a cause of health care reformists for years. Therefore, it will likely come as a surprise to many that it was Donald Trump who issued an executive order on Nov. 15, 2019, requiring hospitals to publish their standard or “gross” charges, the negotiated rates they have with insurers, and the discounted prices they are willing to accept from a patient. These changes are to go into effect in 2021. The difference between “retail” and negotiated rates can be up to 400% or more, which is why this is one of the most important advancements in health care cost control in decades. But, for some mysterious reason, it has only been reported at the very margins of mainstream media.

Greg Feeler, Boise

No blue wave

The polls and media got it wrong again! At this hour the presidential race is too close to call. The 7% to 10% lead predicted in the national polls by Mr. Biden, simply did not happen. The Big Blue Wave that media predicted did not happen. The Senate remains Republican. Republicans picked up at least five seats in the House.

Another very positive outcome from this election is the fact that “identity politics” did not work. African Americans and Latinos voted Republican at higher percentages than the media ever imagined. The Republican tent is expanding!

Finally, no matter who ends up as president, the closeness of this election shows there is no mandate for radical change in this country.

Chipp Leibach, Boise

Medicare cut

COVID-19 has been an ongoing health care crisis that shows no signs of stopping. It has also been an unprecedented fiscal crisis for health care workers, who continue to face financial peril due to a sudden overall drop in patients that continues to this day. Now, the federal government is about to make that crisis worse.

The federal agency that oversees Medicare is slated to cut the reimbursement payments many doctors depend on to keep their practices afloat. As doctors are still spinning from the COVID-19 fiscal crisis this could be catastrophic.

Idahoans still need access to the full scope of medical care, ranging from routine preventive care to cancer screenings to potentially life-saving surgeries and emergency care. More than 800,000 health care jobs have been lost since February. We’ll see even greater job losses if doctors take a pay cut due to the new Medicare rules.

Congress has to act quickly to stop the pay cut before more doctors and practices are forced to close their doors for good. This financial pressure will have long term consequences for our already struggling health care system. I urge Sen. Crapo to stop the upcoming doctor pay cut.

Gretchen Manning, Caldwell

Serpent or savior

Mr. Trump is seen as a serpent to half the country and a savior to the other half. These perceptions reflect a failure of both church and state to elevate their constituencies correctly.

History calls forth abundant examples of tyrants who were accused of doing great personal damage to society, but who, in reality, had plenty of help. History, on the other hand, finds very few examples of authentic social saviors.

Autocrats do not do all the damage themselves. They and their friends merely collect and exercise the abandoned political power of the many citizens who withdraw from the public square.

Those rare examples of high spirituality, like say Buddha or Jesus, sought not to be worshiped but rather to be imitated. Buddha wanted others to become enlightened through mental health, and Jesus wanted others to become righteous leaders and sacrificial actors.

They were not believers in celebrity vice or in celebrity salvation, but rather individual responsibility to act.

Kimball Shinkoskey, Woods Cross, Utah