Letters to the editor: Labrador, wearing a mask, protesters, Medicare cuts

Labrador’s retort

I applaud the Statesman for giving Mr. Labrador a voice. He had a right to be (upset) about the picture. But he was so wrong about everything else in his four columns of print.

Sharyn McCamish, Boise

Home for Christmas

Every year, nurses miss Christmas. We know in advance that we won’t be showing up for the hugs, kisses, and special meals with those who know and love us best. Our little kids wake up on Christmas morning without us.

I missed my mother’s last Christmas, before the summer would take her away forever from advanced cancer. My husband missed our first child’s first Christmas. We were both staffing the ICU and knew we needed to be there. Every nurse has a story like this.

Our hospitals are also staffed with doctors, physicians assistants, respiratory therapists (current heroes of saint-like capacity), social workers, and many others who are there when the unthinkable happens to families hoping for a peaceful holiday. We show up to be there for you.

For some of you, you know this is your last Christmas. Or your loved one’s last Christmas. But for most of you, this is a fleeting exception to years of wonderful holidays to come. So just this one Christmas, please stay home. Vaccines and summer are on the horizon. For now, do what you can to avoid meeting me please. I will be in the hospital, hoping not to meet you.

Emily Getlein Marques, Boise

Power-hungry germophobes

Ah, the Sunday morning paper. Large comic mocking President Trump, the article under the comic by the Editorial Board titled “We are done listening to Idaho’s pro-virus, anti-mask protesters.” Then the letters to the editor, same message of shame and hatred. Full section of hatred in the guise of “concern.” It saddens me to see so much division. The Editorial Board and their friends willingly mock and segregate those that choose to live their lives and not live by rule. Why push the “mask wearers” vs “anti-maskers” narrative? It doesn’t have to be that way. You all sound like Central District Health, we are protesting you, too! Quit being the mean girl clique that spills milk on those they feel superior to. The constant shaming of “anti-maskers” while in the same page folds telling a story of a social worker that helps heal traumatized youth. Wait, what? This is all an illusion. The Editorial Board and followers don’t want to heal anyone. They want division, hopelessness, fear and meanness. Heck yah, we’re going to protest. Keep ignoring the people you mock, we “faux-patriot[s]” see right through this.

Christi Warhurst, Boise

Wear your mask

Masks + careful distancing = no shutdown. Simple. It didn’t have to be this way. We could have carefully kept our lives mostly normal. Taiwan, with 24 million people densely crowded onto a small island, has only had seven COVID-19 deaths. SEVEN. Because they all took the right safety measures. But in the U.S., and here in Idaho, those who refuse to wear masks or take the virus seriously, also oppose the shutdown, which makes absolutely zero sense. The combination of no shutdown AND no protections makes the anti-maskers appear dumb. And is killing 3,600 Americans a day.

Christiane Rudd, Boise

Heroes of the pandemic

Let’s put our political beliefs aside, frontline doctors and health care providers are the true heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every day doctors show they are devoted to caring for their patients.

It’s dispiriting to hear policymakers at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are proposing to cut the pay of doctors. Jan. 1, doctors will receive lower reimbursements for patients who are covered by Medicare. This was a misguided move before the pandemic, but now it’s downright dangerous.

This pay cut puts hospitals in rural Idaho and underserved communities at increased risk of closing. Many rural communities have high numbers of patients covered by Medicare. Cutting Medicare reimbursements will further strain our struggling health care system.

I urge Idahoans to call Senator Crapo and urge him to support legislation that blocks this dangerous pay cut. We trust our doctors to make the right treatment decisions when we go into the emergency room. We should also trust them when they are warning us about policy decisions that could close emergency rooms for good.

Judy Strickland, Meridian