<strong><span class="subhead">Larry Johnson&rsquo;s remarks</span></strong></p><p>I was offended and disappointed by Larry Johnson&rsquo;s hate-ridden outbursts (10/27, A1, &ldquo;Chief&rsquo;s latest words add to controversy&rdquo;). Arrowhead is not a haven for the likes of Michael Vick, nor should it tolerate the vitriol of an ignorant and hateful Johnson. </p><p>Kansas City and the Chiefs organization are better than this. We may not be winning games, but integrity is everything.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>John Goodman</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Fairway</em></p></p><p>The disputes within millionaire sports franchises are a &ldquo;tempest in a teapot&rdquo; compared with the real problems faced by ordinary folks.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>John Couture Sr.</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Kansas City</em></p></p><p><strong><span class="subhead"><strong>Column illustrates need for reform</strong></span></strong></p><p>Mike Hendricks&rsquo; column &ldquo;Double dose of bad news: Cancer and losing his job&rdquo; (10/21, National/Local) mentioned that cancer patient Brad Woodworth&rsquo;s medical insurance payments will use up most of his long-term disability income. </p><p>This is why we need health care reform. Any of us is just one illness away from being in this same unfortunate position. One should not have to choose keeping your home, putting food on the table, or making health insurance payments to maintain your health care needs. Every one of us should have health insurance and care if and when it is needed. There is Medicaid, but you have to lose or give up everything you have to qualify.</p><p>Other countries provide health care for their citizens. I am sure it is not perfect, but just about anything would be better than the mess we have on our hands. </p><p>Your life and health depend on your ability to pay for health care and the profitability of insurance companies. Think about this the next time you get a paycheck and how it would feel without one because you cannot work or because you have to hand it over to the insurance company for your health care.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Deb Canova</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Kansas City</em></p></p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Mandate health savings accounts</span></strong></p><p>My knowledge of our health care system comes from more than 40 years as a patient and as an employee of an insurance company. My experience tells me that there are three primary factors in the high costs: the profit motives of the insurance companies and medical providers and the American people&rsquo;s overconsumption of health care. To be effective, reform must address all three factors. </p><p>I question whether any of the current bills accomplishes that goal. Certainly the do-nothing approach favored by many does not address any of them.</p><p>Some form of government intervention is needed. One option that has not been proposed by either party is to mandate that each citizen and legal resident have a catastrophic policy supplemented by a health savings account. Medicaid and Medicare would be replaced by a program where the government would purchase that policy and contribute to the savings account on behalf of the beneficiaries. </p><p>Employers and individuals would still have the option to buy more comprehensive coverage as they do in the current system. I call on our political leaders to do what is needed instead of what is politically expedient.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Don Daniels</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Topeka</em></p></p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Whom does Moore represent?</span></strong></p><p>Dennis Moore has a decision to make. Does he represent the good people of the Third District of Kansas or the Democratic Party? </p><p>He spent this summer avoiding his constituents so he wouldn&rsquo;t have to address Obamacare. Now he&rsquo;s sent a mass e-mail to those of us who addressed our concerns with his office parroting the president&rsquo;s talking points. </p><p>Being one of many Republicans who have supported Moore in the past, he can rest assured that our votes, and his job, hinge on this issue.