Is it un-American to have open competition?

It is a sad commentary on the integrity of our pharmaceutical giants, to learn that the cost of prescription drugs has gone up 9 percent during the debate for health-care reform [“Drug prices rise fast before overhaul,” page one, Nov. 16].

It is particularly shameful, that through the other corner of their mouth they proclaimed the drug industry was favorable to health-care reforms and volunteered to shave drug costs by $8 billion to help the reform to succeed. The net effect will raise the nation’s drug bill by $10 billion.

What an egregious act of deceit.

The article revealed this to be a drug industry pattern. After the 2006 passage of the prescription drug program, the drug prices rose substantially. That was after we, the people, lost in the congressional debate with the pharmaceutical industry, which refused to accept the government choosing drug purchases from the lowest bidder.

Is it un-American to have open competition? Must we accept the risk of collusion by drug houses, who set the price as is done in the Middle East oil cartels.

— Jack Ballard, Port Ludlow

Research and development: Show me the money!

What do I want to have happen in this health-care debate? I want everyone at the top — insurance executives, politicians, medical administrators and medical providers — to prove to all of us why health care in this country is so expensive.

How? Show us the money!

Stop repeating the same old distraction lines, the same old chatter designed to keep the American public off point. Show us the financial breakdown for treating a patient for the flu, a broken bone, chronic illness like diabetes, arthritis or cancer.

Why does medical research cost millions of dollars? Since it has been said research and development are the primary reason for the high cost of prescription drugs, why is all the recent news focused on companies raising the price of drugs before health-care reform is finished?

I want to know who is responsible for making those decisions and why.

Here is their opportunity to show everyone in America that they are not jacking up the cost for medical treatment, that they are not working with one another to keep the price of medicine prescriptions, medical supplies and services at a very high fixed price.

And why the insurance corporations would refuse to pay for lifesaving or life-altering treatments. The truth, at least to me, is the government and all the medical service and drugmakers are lying about the cost just like the tobacco companies, Wall Street and banks lied.

— Frank Beverlin, Seattle

In bed with the flu…

As I sit in bed with the flu, I’m compelled to say we need health-insurance reform, just not the type currently proposed by the administration or either house in Congress [“Stage set for health battle in Senate,” page one, Nov. 19].

Just like assurances that adequate supplies of swine-flu vaccine would be available or that Medicare wouldn’t bankrupt our country, these proposals will cost more and deliver less.

You see, I know I’m part of the problem. Like the majority of Americans, I’ve made choices over the course of my career to accept positions that provide outstanding health-insurance coverage.

It has meant passing on some opportunities that were perhaps more exciting or fulfilling, but couldn’t provide what I felt I needed. So I’ve come to rely on my health insurance to cover nearly every dollar of health-care costs for my family.

I have no real idea of the actual costs of our health care. I don’t participate in a health-care marketplace. I don’t ask if tests or medications are required because it doesn’t matter.

Insurance will cover it.

If we want reform that will reduce costs and increase access, we need to allow a wider range of insurance options that are truly insurance, rather than health-care delivery mechanisms.

We need reform that gives those of us covered by great plans incentives to participate in our health care and understand true costs, while reducing cost-shifting within the current structure. None of the proposals currently under consideration do these things, so count me out.

— Jeff Miller, Seattle