Letters: Readers discuss saving money on health care and cheating Astros, politicians

Bust barriers

Taking a tour of a medical clinic might not sound like the most exciting thing for a teenage boy to do on summer break, until he discovers the clinic offers free sports physicals — the barrier to playing basketball in his sophomore year.

This is a true story that happened last summer at Mercy and Truth Medical Missions’ Johnson County clinic. This boy was stopped from fulfilling his dream of playing sports by the cost of a routine physical.

As we begin a new decade and new legislative sessions in both Missouri and Kansas, now is the year to pass Medicaid expansion. So many would benefit from access to medical care. In Kansas’ Johnson and Wyandotte counties, more than 60,000 are without medical insurance.

With insurance, individuals are more likely to see medical professionals and receive proactive and preventive care. When care is not postponed, many chronic conditions can be prevented, saving money and prolonging lives as well.

Fifty-four years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” It’s time that changed in Missouri and Kansas.

- Anne F. Rauth, Kansas City

To the top

Reading about the Houston Astros cheating in the World Series took my mind off the news about cheating in politics in Jefferson City and Washington, D.C., that has filled the first section of The Star. The Astros do a “ho-hum” about it, just like our Kansas and Missouri senators.

- Ron Holland, Overland Park