Editorials

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 250 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 A health-care system that's sick, getting sicker America's health-care crisis continues to deteriorate into something worse, something chronic that threatens to be untreatable. Unless we act now. If only all the campaign chatter and promises might actually turn into action that begins to touch this growing national embarrassment. Tuesday's headlines tell us that "Many in Snohomish County get too little medical care." A Snohomish Health District report reveals that nearly 15 percent of adults here lack health insurance and lack of money often means they put off getting medical care. The report found that too many moms aren't getting enough prenatal care during their pregnancies, which can lead to premature births and babies with low birth weights. And too many seniors aren't getting regular health screenings, such as mammograms, even though they are covered through Medicare. The Snohomish County residents who are not covered are among the estimated 44 million Americans who are uninsured. Eight out of 10 of these are workers or their dependents. Another 38 million have inadequate health insurance. The Snohomish County report found that adults were less likely to receive recommended preventive care, such as a mammogram in the past two years, a Pap test in the past three years and a flu shot in the past year. We know that detecting diseases and disorders early is key to curing or containing them, thus the extreme value of the screening tests. It is more costly, financially and physically, to treat a disease after it has become full-fledged. We also know that the cost of health care keeps going up, for everyone. Small businesses struggle to provide coverage for their workers. In a PBS program, Sherry Glied, an associate professor of public health at Columbia University, summed up the vicious circle facing the uninsured: "They're at risk of not getting regular care when they need it. They're at risk of not catching real problems before they get serious enough to not be treatable. They're at risk of not getting the best treatment when they actually do get sick. And they're at tremendous financial risk. They could lose everything that they've saved in their lives because of some even fairly minor health problem." Making sure every all mothers-to-be get the prenatal care they need would be the logical place a smart, compassionate nation would start.

1. Teen dies after Granite Falls crash 2. Bikini coffee stands to be regulated as adult entertainment 3. Sultan brothers plead guilty in death of rival gang member 4. Body found after house catches fire north of Bothell 5. Gregoire unveils budget with deep cuts, will press for tax hikes 6. Grief and gratitude expressed for four slain officers 7. Two teenagers hurt in crash near Granite Falls 8. Friends and family honor Clearview couple who loved always 9. Roe appointed interim county prosecutor 10. Arlington's budget is ‘bare bones' 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Zambian woman thanks students for their help • Food banks see rise in use • ‘Making Spirits Bright’ in Edmonds • Wolfpack takes aim at state • Seahawks help students smile • 95 and still volunteering • Sno-King joined by local TV king • Veterans back for Wildcats • Lynnwood seeks to plug $2 million budget gap • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million